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National  Contest, 


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PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  MESSAGE, 

AND  BEPLT  BT 

HON.  JAMES  G.  ELAINE. 


Election  Statistics  and   National   Platforms, 

ALSO, 

TAEIPF  DISCUSSIONS, 

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Eon.  John  G.  Carlisle  and  Hon.  Wm.  McKinleg,  Jr. 


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Philadelphia,  CHICAGO,  Kansas  City, 

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CONTENTS. 


PAG*. 

THE  LIFE  OF  GROVER  CLEVELAND,          •          •          •  5 

THE  LIFE  OP  ALLAN  G.  THURMAN,     -          ...  n 

THE  LIFE  OF  GEN.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON,           •          -  29 

THE  LIFE  OF  LEVI  PARSONS  MORTON,           ...  41 

PLATFORM  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY,              -          -  51 

PLATFORM  OF  THE  DEMOCRATIC  PARTT,         ...  60 

PLATFORM  OF  THE  PROHIBITION  PARTY,              •          •  66 

PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS,  69 

PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  MESSAGE  DISCUSSED  CBY  HON.  JAMES 

G.  ELAINE,             -                                -  87 

VIEWS  ON  THE  TARIFF  BY  HON.  WM.  McKiNLEY,  JR.,  OF  OHIO,  99 

VIEWS  ON  THE  TARIFF  BY  HON.  JOHN  G.  CARLISLE  OF  KEN- 
TUCKY,                                                                       •  113 

QUALIFICATIONS  REQUIRED  FOR  VOTING,                        •          -  125 

DATES  OF  STATE  ELECTIONS,     -                     ...  135 

POPULAR  AND  ELECTORAL  VOTES  FROM  1852  TO  1884              •  126 

POPULAR  VOTE  FOR  PRESIDENT,  1884,                      -          •  127 

ELECTORAL  VOTE:  FOB  PRESIDENT,  1860  TO  1884,          •          •  128 


THE  LIFE  OF  GROYER  CLEVELAND. 


Democratic  Candidate  for  Prendent. 

Richard  Falley  Cleve- 
land, third  son  of  Wil- 
liam Cleveland,  and 
father  of  Grover  Cleve- 
land, was  born  in  Nor- 
wich, Conn.,  June  19, 
1804,  and  after  graduat- 
ing with  high  honors 
from  Yale  College  in 
1824,  went  to  Baltimore, 
where  he  fell  in  love 
with  Anne  Neale,  the 
daughter  of  a  pros- 
perous publisher,  of 
Irish  extraction.  He 
He  soon  after  entered  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  and 
after  a  three  years'  course,  he  received  a  call  to  a  church  at 
Windham,  Conn.,  which  he  accepted,  and  then  hastened  to 
Baltimore  where  he  was  married  to  Anne  Neale  in  1829. 
His  second  trust  was  in  Portsmouth,  Ya.,  and  in  little  over 
a  year,  in  the  fall  of  1834,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Caldwell,  near  Newark,  N.  J. 

Richard  and  Anne  Cleveland  had  nine  children,  as 
follows:  Anna  (Mrs.  Dr.  Hastings),  born  in  1830; 
William  N.,  born  in  1882  ;  Mary  (Mrs,  W.  E.  Hoyt),  1833; 


6  Life  of  Orover  Cleveland. 

Richard  Cecil,  1835;  Stephen  Grover,  1837;  Margaret 
(Mrs.  N,  B.  Bacon),  1838 ;  Lewis  Frederick,  1841 ;  Susan 
(Mrs.  L.  Yeomans),  1843 ;  Eose  E.  (unmarried),  1846.  All 
the  children  are  living,  except  two  who  were  burned  at  sea. 
The  father  of  Richard  Falley  Cleveland  was  William 
Cleveland,  whose  father  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Aaron  Cleveland, 
great  grandfather  of  Grover  Cleveland,  and  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  College,  afterwards  ordained  a  clergyman  of  the 
Episcopal  church.  The  Cleveland  ancestry  date  their  set- 
tlement in  this  country  to  1636,  when  Moses  Cleveland,  of 
Ipswich,  county  of  Suffolk,  England,  settled  in  Woburn, 
Massachusetts.  The  family  is  noted  for  its  piety  and  relig- 
ious zeal,  having  had  distinguished  representatives  in  the 
clerical  profession  for  many  generations. 

Grover  Cleveland  was  born  March  18,  1837,  in  New 
Jersey,  and  named  Stephen  Grover  in  honor  of  Rev.  Stephen 
Grover  whom  his  father  had  succeeded.  The  name  of 
Stephen  was  so  seldom  used  that  he  never  became  accus- 
tomed to  it,  and  before  Ije  became  of  age  he  ceased 
altogether  to  use  it  and  signed  his  name  simply  Grover 
Cleveland. 

In  1840,  when  Grover  was  nearly  four  years  old,  his  father 
•accepted  a  call  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Fayette- 
ville,  New  York.  The  trip  from  New  Jersey  to  central 
New  York,  in  those  days,  was  much  more  of  an  undertak- 
ing than  it  is  to-day;  about  ten  days  were  occupied  in 
reaching  Fayetteville,  the  home  of  the  future  president. 
The  tired  parents,  while  passing  through  Albany,  little 
diought  that  their  four  years  old  son  would  one  day  be  a 
'uture  Governor. 

In  the  little  town  of  Fayetteville  young  Grover  had  his 
'^ps  and  downs  as  other  children,  and  at  the  age  of  eight 
years  he  began  attending  the  district  school,  and  two  years 


Life  of  Grover  Cleveland.  7 

later  entered  the  academy.  It  was  while  he  was  studying 
here  that  Grover  conceived  the  idea  of  spending  his  vacation 
in  visiting  his  uncle,  Lewis  F.  Allen,  of  Black  Bock,  N.  Y., 
a  village  very  near  Buffalo.  Lewis  Allen  was  a  stoc^r 
breeder  owning  a  large  farm,  and  during  Grover's  eight 
weeks  stay  he  was  of  much  assistance  to  his  uncle,  who  in 
turn  was  not  slow  in  finding  Grover's  good  qualities  and 
sterling  worth,  and  was  loath  to  have  his  nephew  return. 

Although  this  trip  may  seem  of  little  importance  to  the 
reader,  it  had  much  to  do  with  Buffalo's  claim  of  giving  to 
the  country  a  president  On  his  return  he  gave  up  his 
studies  and  entered  one  of  the  village  stores  on  a  salary  of 
fifty  dollars  the  first  year  and  a  promise  of  one  hundred 
dollars  for  the  second  year  on  condition  of  his  giving  satis- 
faction. 

Satisfaction  was  given,  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  he 
was  engaged  for  the  second.  But  before  the  close  of  that 
year  he  was  called  to  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  where  his  father  had 
returned  with  his  family,  and  then  Grover  entered  the 
academy  with  the  intention  of.  completing  his  preparations 
for  college,  and  after  a  college  course,  to  study  law.  At  the 
end  of  two  years  he  was  ready  for  college,  and  everything 
promised  well  The  family,  after  residing  two  years  in 
Clinton,  moved  in  September,  1853,  to  Holland  Patent, 
where  the  father  had  accepted  a  call  from  the  Presbyterian 
church.  Preparations  were  being  made  by  Grover  to  return 
to  Clinton  that  fall  and  enter  Hamilton  College,  but  in  less 
than  a  month's  time  after  reaching  Holland  Patent,  Grover's 
father  died.  All  plans  were  changed,  each  must  do  for 
that  widow  and  family.  In  his  sixteenth  year,  G.rover 
Cleveland  began  his  battle  with  the  world.  Poor  in  cash, 
'tis.true,  but  rich  in  health,  a  clear  head  and  willing  hands. 
His  first  year  was  spent  as  a  clerk  in  the  New  York  Insti- 


8  Life  of  Grover  Cleveland, 

tution  for  the  Blind,  in  New  York  city,  where  his  brother 
William  was  engaged  in  teaching.  At  the  close  of  his  first 
year's  work  he  returned  to  his  mother's  family  at  Holland 
Patent.  The  small  amount  earned  in  New  York  had  been 
given  to  his  mother  for  support  of  the  family,  and  the 
spring  of  1855  found  Grover  casting  about  for  employment 
Utica,  Syracuse,  and  the  larger  towns  near  Holland  Patent 
were  visited,  but  of  no  avail.  It  was  then  that  he  decided 
to  go  west,  and  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  selected  as  the  objective 
point  He  has  said  the  town  having  the  same  name  a3 
his  own  deciding  him  on  this  place.  He  at  once 
started  for  Cleveland,  stopping  at  Buffalo  to  visit  his 
uncle,  Lewis  F.  Allen,  whom  he  had  visited  on  his  first  trip 
from  home. 

The  stock  breeder  was  surprised  at  the  sudden  arrival  of 
his  nephew,  and  learning  from  him  of  his  intended  western 
trip,  soon  persuaded  him  to  remain  with  him  and  assist 
him  in  getting  out  a  herd  book  and  then  go  on  west,  if  he 
wished,  but  at  the  same  time  promised  to  use  hig  influence 
in  getting  him  a  place  in  one  of  the  law  offices  of  Buffalo. 
A  promise  by  Uncle  Allen  of  fifty  dollars  decided  Grover, 
and  he  at  once  began  his  work  of  writing  up  and  sifting  out 
the  blue  blooded  stock  of  those  days.  In  due  time  the 
book  was  ready  for  the  market  and  at  once  had  a  good  sale. 
Uncle  Allen  paid  Grover  for  his  work  sixty-five  dollars 
in  place  of  fifty.  Now  came  the  duty  of  finding  a  law 
office  for  Grover  which  was  soon  done.  Rogers,  Bo  wen  & 
Uogers,  one  of  the  leading  firms  in  Western  New  York, 
were  in  need  of  an  office  man,  and  Grover  secured  the  place. 
He  was  stationed  at  a  desk  in  another  room  and  given  a 
large  volume  of  Blackstone  to  read.  He  was  left  to  him- 
self the  first  day  and  he  improved  his  time.  The  members 


Lift  of  Grover  Cleveland.  9 

of  the  firm  and  others  soon  learned  of  his  vrorth  and  felt 
that  his  success  was  certain. 

After  six  months  in  the  office  Grover  began  to  receive 
his  first  pay  in  a  law  office,  which  was  four  dollars  per 
week — just  enough  to  pay  his  board,  washing,  and  necessary 
expenses. 

Grover's  advance  was  rapid,  and  by  hard  studying  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1859,  and  was  soon  made  the 
manager  of  his  employers'  business.  His  salary  rapidly 
increased  and  he  was  receiving  $1,000  per  year  at  the  time 
he  left  the  employ  of  Rogers,  Bowen  &  Rogers  at  the  close 
of  1862. 

During  the  fall  of  1862,  C.  C.  Torrance,  district  attorney 
of  Erie  County,  was  looking  about  for  an  assistant  There 
were  many  applications  from  young  lawyers  in  the  vicinity. 

Mr.  Torrance  called  upon  Grover  and  insisted  that  he 
should  take  the  place,  stating  that  he  had  been  urged  on  this 
point  by  many  of  his  (Grover's)  friends,  and  other  applicants 
agreed  to  yield  if  Cleveland  would  accept 

After  due  consideration  he  accepted,  and  began  the  duties 
of  Assistant  District  Attorney  of  Erie  County  on  January 
1,  1863. 

The  ward  in  which  Cleveland  lived  was  Republican,  and 
wanting  the  strongest  Democrat  to  run  on  their  ticket  that 
fall  for  supervisor,  he  was  selected.  His  standing  and  ster- 
ling worth  were  shown  when  the  counting  was  done.  While 
his  party  were  two  hundred  behind,  he  lacked  but  twelve 
votes  of  a  majority.  Before  the  three  years  were  over,  it 
was  generally  conceded  that  Grover  Cleveland  would  be  the 
next  candidate  for  District  Attorney. 

Knowing  the  popularity  of  the  man,  the  Republicans 
were  distressed  to  find  his  equal,  and  strangely  decided  upon 
Lyman  K.  Bass,  aa  intimate  friend  of  Cleveland's,  Being 


10  Life  of  Grover  Cleveland. 

advised  by  Cleveland  to  accept,  he  did  so  and  a  strong  can- 
vass was  made,  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Bass 
by  about  five  hundred  majority,  although  Cleveland  ran  far 
ahead  of  his  ticket  in  every  ward. 

His  past  record  at  once  brought  him  numerous  proposi- 
tions of  partnership  and  one  was  formed  with  the  Hon.  I.  V. 
Vanderpoel,  Ex-State  Treasurer,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Vanderpoel  &  Cleveland,  which  existed  until  August,  1869, 
when  a  partnership  was  formed  with  Ex-Senator  A.  P. 
Laning  and  the  Hon.  Oscar  Folsom.  The  firm  name  was 
Laning,  Cleveland  &  Folsom,  and  at  once  commanded  a 
large  business. 

The  warm  friendship  which  sprang  up  between  Mr.  Fol- 
som and  Cleveland  continued  during  the  former's  life.  On 
the  death  of  Mr.  Folsom,  caused  by  being  thrown  from  a 
carriage,  the  following  remarks  were  made  by  Mr.  Cleveland 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Bar  ot  Erie  County,  July  26,  1875,  held 
in  honor  of  Mr.  Folsom's  memory,  which  show  the  noble 
mind  and  warm  friendship  of  Mr.  Cleveland  *. 

It  has  been  said,  "  Light  sorrows  speak — great  grief  is  dumb,"  and  the 
application  of  this  would  enforce  my  silence  on  this  occasion.  But  I 
cannot  go  so  far;  nor  let  the  hours  pass  without  adding  a  tribute  of 
respect  and  love  to  my  departed  friend.  He  was  my  friend  in  the  most 
sacred  and  complete  sense  of  the  term.  I  have  walked  with  him,  talked 
with  him,  ate  with  him,  and  slept  with  him — was  he  not  my  friend  ? 

In  the  course  of  a  life  not  entirely  devoid  of  startling  incidents,  I  can 
truly  say  I  never  was  so  shocked  and  overwhelmed  as  when  I  heard  on 
Friday  night  of  the  death  of  Oscar  Folsom.  I  had  an  engagement  with 
him  that  evening,  and  was  momentarily  expecting  him  when  I  received 
the  intelligence  of  his  injury ;  and  before  I  reached  the  scene  of  the 
accident  I  was 'abruptly  told  of  his  death  ;  I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe 
my  emotions.  Death  seemed  so  foreign  to  this  man  ;  and  the  exuberance 
of  his  life  was  so  marked  and  prominent  that  the  idea  of  his  dying  or 
hia  death  seemed  to  me  incongruous  and  out  of  place.  *  *  * 

The  sadness  of  his  taking  off  has  no  alleviation.  I  'shall  not  dwell 
upon  the  harrowing  circumstances.  On  Friday  afternoon  Oscar  FoLaom, 


Lift  of  Orover  Cleveland.  11 

in  the  mid -day  of  life,  was  cherishing  bright  anticipations  for  the  future. 
Among  them  be  had  planned  a  home  in  an  adjoining  town,  where  he 
calculated  upon  much  peace  and  quiet.  He  had  already  partially  perfected 
his  arrangements,  which  were  soon  to  be  fully  cousummated. 
But  God  had  intervened.  The  hands  of  loving  friends  bore  him  to  a 
home,  but  not  the  home  he  had  himself  provided.  He  found  peace  in 
the  home  that  God  provides  for  the  sons  of  men,  and  quiet ;  ah,  such 
quiet !  —  in  the  grave.  I  know  how  fleeting  and  how  soon  forgotten  arc 
the  lessons  taught  by  such  calamities.  "  The  gay  will  laugh,  the  solei.ii; 
brow  of  care  plod  on,  and  each  one  as  before  pursue  his  favorite  phan- 
tom." But  it  seems  to  me  long,  long  years  will  intervene  before  pleasant 
memories  of  his  life  will  be  unmingled  with  the  sad  admonitions  fur- 
nished by  the  death  of  Oscar  Folsom. 

Let  us  cherish  him  in  loving  remembrance,  and  heed  well  the  lesson 
of  his  death  ;  and  let  our  tcnderest  sympathy  extend  to  a  childless 
father,  a  widowed  wife,  and  fatherless  child. 

In  1870  Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Erie  County. 
This  office,  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  county  offices, 
he  filled  with  credit,  and  showed  his  fidelity  to  the  trust 
and  the  welfare  of  the  public. 

These  three  years  are  no  doubt  the  foundation  of  his 
present  popularity. 

Whi\e  holding  the  office  of  sheriff,  his  two  brothers,  Cecil 
and  Frederick,  were  lost  by  the  burning  of  a  vessel,  on  which 
they  had  taken  passage  for  Bermuda.  At  the  close  of  his 
term  as  sheriff,  in  the  year  of  1874,  Bass,  Cleveland  & 
Bissell  formed  a  law  partnership,  but  during  the  year,  cm 
account  of  failing  health,  Mr.  Bass  retired  from  the  firm, 
and  the  name  became  Cleveland  &  Bissell.  Mr.  George  J. 
Sicard  being  admitted  in  1881.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  an 
important  election  for  mayor  was  to  take  place  in  Buffalo. 
Reforms  were  needed  in  the  municipal  affairs  of  that  city, 
and  the  Democrats  were  looking  about  for  a  candidate  that 
would  lead  them  to  victory.  Grover  Cleveland  was  selected 
for  that  honor. 


12  Life  of  Cfrover  Cleveland. 

He  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  3,500,  the  largest  ever 
given  a  candidate  for  that  office,  although  the  Republicans 
carried  Buffalo  for  their  State  ticket  by  a  majority  of  over 
1,600.  In  his  inaugural  message  to  the  council  of  Buffalo, 
January,  1882,  he  rang  the  key  note  of  reform,  and  set 
forth  his  honesty  of  purpose  in  strong  and  pointed 
language. 

It  seems  to  me  that  a  successful  and  faithful  administration  of  the 
gorernment  of  our  city  may  be  accomplished  by  constantly  bearing  in 
mind  that  we  are  the  trustees  and  agents  of  our  fellow-citizens,  holding 
their  funds  In  sacred  trust,  to  be  expended  for  their  benefit;  that  we 
should  at  all  times  be  prepared  to  render  an  honest  account  of  them, 
touching  the  manner  of  their  expenditure;  and  that  the  affairs  of  the 
city  should  be  conducted,  as  far  as  possible,  upon  the  same  principles  as 
a  good  business  man  manages  his  private  concerns. 

Grover  Cleveland  had  been  Mayor  of  Buffalo  only  six 
months;  yet  in  that  brief  period,  by  the  courageous  dis- 
charge of  his  duty,  and  by  close  scrutiny  into  the  expendi- 
tures of  government,  nearly  a  million' dollars  had  been 
saved  and  the  burden  of  taxation  diminished  to  a  corre- 
sponding amount.  His  popularity  in  the  city  grew  rapidly 
as  he  persevered  in  a  course  of  action  which  had  already 
effected  such  great  results. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  these  six  months,  the  Buffalo 
Courier,  the  leading  Democratic  newspaper  of  Western  New 
York,  when  Mayor  Cleveland's  name  was  first  suggested  in 
connection  with  the  Democratic  nomination  for  Governor, 


If  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  a  large  number  of  staunch  Demo- 
crats in  this  part  of  the  State  are  to  be  realized,  Western  New  York, 
and  more  particularly  Erie  county,  will,  at  the  coming  State  Convention, 
present  the  same  of  a  candidate  for  the  governorship  who,  with  the 
highest  qualifications  for  the  first  State  office,  combines  elements  of 
strength  and  availability  surpassed  by  no  one  of  the  distinguished  men 
In  other  localities  whose  names  have  been  spoken  of  in  this  connection. 


Lift  of  Qrover  Cleveland  18 

The  moYement  in  fmror  of  Qrover  Cleveland,  our  present  Mayor,  among 
the  Democracy  of  Buffalo  and  Erie  county  has  been  wholly  spontaneous. 
No  "  boom  "  has  been  worked  up  in  his  behalf.  *  *  *  Mayor  Cleve- 
land himself  is  the  hist  man  who  would  push  himself  forward  as  a 
candidate.  *  *  *  As  to  Mr.  Cleveland's  fitness  for  the  office  of 
Governor  there  is  but  one  voice  among  intelligent  and  fair-minded  men 
in  this  region.  He  is  universally  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  mayors 
Buffalo  ever  had.  He  has  proved  himself  a  true  reformer,  and  our 
neighbor,  the  Exprtu,  correctly  reflected  public  sentiment  when  it  said 
the  other  day  :  "  Mayor  Cleveland  is  in  danger  of  being  nominated  for 
a  State  office,  his  reform  record  being  his  strong  recommendation. 
Buffalo  cannot  spare  him  for  anything  less  than  Governor." 

The  Democratic  State  convention  was  held  at  Syracuse  on 
Sept  22,  1882. 

Many  distinguished  Democrats  were  presented  as  candi- 
dates for  the  Democratic  nomination  of  Governor.  They 
were  Mayor  Cleveland,  the  Hon.  Roswell  P.  Flower,  the 
Hon.  Erastus  Corning,  the  Hon.  Allen  Campbell  and  Gen. 
Henry  K  Slocum,  The  third  ballot  decided,  with  great 
enthusiasm,  the  nomination  of  Grover  Cleveland.  The 
result  of  that  election  is  well  known.  The  opposition 
within  the  Republican  party  to  President  Arthur's  adminis- 
tration, and  to  Folger,  the  Republican  nominee,  many 
Republicans  remaining  away  from  the  polls,  all  combined 
to  give  the  Democratic  party  of  New  York  the  largest 
majority  ever  known,  192,000,  and  Grover  Cleveland  was 
suddenly  lifted  into  national  prominenoe. 

Clevelands'  conduct  and  management,  as  Governor,  of  the 
affairs  of  New  York  are  well  and  most  favorably  known. 
By  his  strong  following  of  principle,  never  swerving  from  a 
point  of  right,  he  put  an  end  to  many  of  the  rings  of  the 
State,  and  saved  the  public  thousands  of  dollars. 

Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  Democratic  party  of  New 
York  should,  long  before  the  National  convention  of  1884, 
consider  him  favorably  for  Democratic  nominee  of  the 


14  Life  of  Grover  Cleveland. 

National  party.  The  letter  of  June,  1884,  from  S,  J. 
Tilden,  stating  a  positive  refusal  to  be  a  candidate  of  his 
party,  started  at  once  the  smouldering  fire,  and  spon- 
taneously spread  the  movement  all  over  the  country  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Cleveland  as  a  leader  to  victory  in  1884. 
The  Democratic  National  convention  was  held  in  Chicago, 
July  8. 

Upon  the  call  of  States,  Delaware  presented  Bayard; 
Indiana,  by  the  voice  of  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  presented 
McDonald;  California  presented  Thurman;  Kentucky 
named  Carlisle,  and  New  York  presented  Cleveland. 
Tammany  men  seconded  the  nominations  of  Bayard  and 
Thurman ;  Ohio  named  its  Governor,  George  Hoadly. 
The  names  of  Thurman  and  Cleveland  provoked  much 
greater  enthusiasm  than  any  of  the  others. 

The  result  of  the  second  ballot  gave  Cleveland  683  votes 
of  the  total  820,  and  he  received  the- nomination. 

There  was  no  question  in  the  minds  of  the  delegates 
that  Hon.  Thomas  A,  Hendricks  should  be  given  the  nomi- 
nation for  Vice-President ,  and  he  was  nominated  unani- 
mously. 

The  memorable  campaign  of  1884  is  well  known.  The 
Democratic  ticket  was  elected  by  the  vote  in  New  York 
state,  which  gave  a  plurality  of  1,200  votes  for  Cleveland 
and  Hendricks,  and  on  the  4th  of  March,  1885,  Grover 
Cleveland  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  became  President  of 
the  United  States.  Within  one  year  from  this  date  it 
began  to  be  whispered  about  that  a  wedding  would  soon 
take  place  in  the  White  House,  and  the  announcement  made 
in  May,  1886,  that  President  Cleveland  was  to  be  married 
to  Miss  Frances  Folsom,  created  immediate  interest,  and 
from  that  time  until  the  wedding  the  press  of  the  country 
discussed  the  event  continuously.  The  President  had 


l/ife  of  Orover  Cleveland.  15 

occupied  public  attention  as  a  statesman  and  an  official,  but 
his  life,  politically  and  officially,  never  touched  the  heart- 
chord  of  the  people  as  did  his  new  domestic  policy  announced 
by  his  friends.  At  once  the  Administration  became  uni- 
versally popular ;  there  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  republic 
opix)sed  to  the  measure,  and  the  unanimity  with  which  it 
was  endorsed  was  a  proof  of  the  real  interest  felt  in  the 
President  by  the  people. 

The  wedding  ceremony  was  performed  on  June  2d,  1886, 
in  the  Blue  Room  of  the  White  House,  the  guests  being 
only  the  relatives  and  immediate  friends,  and  Cabinet 
Officers,  with  the  exception  of  Attorney-General  Garland. 
The  ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sunderland, 
assisted  by  the  Rev.  William  N.  Cleveland,  brother  of  the 
President.  After  the'supper,  the  bride  and  groom  prepared 
for  their  journey;  farewells  were  said,  and  the  President  led 
his  bride  away  through  the  Red  Room,  to  the  south  porch 
where  the  carriage  was  in  waiting. 

The  bridal  trip  was  taken  in  President  Garrett's  private 
car  to  Deer  Park,  Maryland,  a  summer  resort  on  the  crest 
of  the  Alleghanies,  two  hundred  miles  from  Washington. 
There  the  honeymoon  was  passed  in  quiet  and  comparative 
solitude. 

Mrs.  Cleveland  is  the  yougest  and,  perhaps,  the  most 
popular  of  the  ladies  of  the  White  .House. 

Her  marriage  there,  her  youthful  charms,  her  personal 
magnetism,  and  proven  fitness  for  the  place  she  fills,  all 
combined,  give  her  this  pre-eminence.  Her  career  thus  far 
has  been  a  social  triumph,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  she 
will  continue  to  meet  the  approval  of  the  nation,  whose 
good-will  she  has  won. 

Of  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  it  is  needless  to 
dwell  on  the  acts  of  the  President,  He  has,  during  the 


16  Life  of  Orover  Cleveland. 

four  years,  met  and  mastered  every  question,  as  if  from 
youth  trained  to  Statesmanship.  Mindful  of  his  oath  in 
office  to  defend  the  Constitution,  he  courageously  declares 
to  Congress  that  taxation  must  be  reduced.  That  the 
millions  of  dollars  poured  into  the  Treasury  are  the  hard 
earned  savings  of  the  American  people.  This  message, 
which  appears  further  on  in  this  volume,  is  one  of  the  ablest 
ever  given  to  Congress. 

His  unswerving  uprightness,  his  high  moral  courage,  his 
tireless  devotion ;  these  qualities,  combined  with  the  fidelity 
and  independence  of  his  official  actions  during  the  last  four 
years,  have  made  him  the  unanimous  choice, of  the  National 
Democratic  convention,  assembled  at  St,  Louis,  Missouri, 
June  5,  188a 


THE  LIFE  OF  ALLAN  G.  THURMAN. 


[Democratic  Candidate  for 


Eon.  Allan  G.  Thur- 
man,  candidate  for 
Vice-president,  was 
born  on  November  18, 
1813,  in  Lynchburg, 
Virginia. 

His  father  was  the 
Rev.  P.  Thurman,  and 
his  mother  the  only 
daughter  of  Colonel 
Nathaniel  Allen,  of 
North  Carolina,  nephew 
of  Joseph  Howes,  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

In  1819  the  parents  of  Allan  Thurman  moved  to  Chilli- 
cothe,  Ohio,  where  Allan  received  his  education  and  made 
his  home  until  1853,  when  he  moved  to  Columbus,  Ohio, 
where  he  has  since  resided. 

He  studied  law  under  his  uncle,  the  late  William  Allen, 
who  represented  Ohio  in  the  United  States  Senate  for  many 
years,  and  afterwards  was  Governor  of  Ohio.  He  after- 
wards studied  law  with  Noah  H.  Swayne,  who  was,  later  on, 
one  of  the  Justices  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 

17 


18  Life  of  AUan  0.  Thwrman. 

Much  of  the  expense  incurred  while  studying  law  was  met  by 
his  work  in  surveying  land.  His  mother  was  a  gifted  and  cul- 
tured lady,  who  did  much  for  the  training  of  her  son,  guiding 
his  studies  and  readings  until  his  admission  to  the  bar,  Allan 
in  turn  helping  his  parents  and  sisters  in  their  support,  and 
continued  to  do  so  for  nine  years  after  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  remaining  unmarried  and  at  home  during  this  time. 

There  are  those  who  remember  of  his  hard  work  and 
ceaseless  study,  and  his  tenacity  of  purpose  which  he  has 
always  shown ;  he  kept  up  his  hard  study  until  long  after 
the  graduation  of  his  class-mates,  and,  until  his  admission  to 
the  bar  in  1835,  his  time  was  occupied  in  teaching  school 
and  studying,  while  his  vacations  were  filled  by  his  work 
of  surveying. 

In  1835  Allan  G.  Thurman  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  his  standing  at  the  bar  was  of  the 
best,  and  his  clientage  larga  The  position  was  gained  by 
hard  work,  strict  attention  to  business,  and  an  unswerving 
principle  of  doing  well  and  thoroughly  everything  that  he 
undertook. 

The  bar  of  no  county  of  Ohio  stood  better  than  that  of 
Chillicothe,  Ross  County,  Ohio,  yet  it  was  but  a  few  years 
before  this  young  man  stood  at  the  very  front  of  Ross 
County  bar ;  he  was  not  only  connected  with  nearly  every 
difficult  suit  in  Ross  County,  but  was  retained  in  many 
important  cases  in  the  adjoining  counties.  Nor  Were  any 
of  his  cases  neglected ;  the  least  important  received  that 
thorough  attention,  pains  and  study  that  was  given  the  most 
important  ones.  Such  aeal  and  energy  was  rewarded  by 
placing  Thurman  at  the  very  head  of  the  bar  of  Ohio,  and 
in  the  short  period  of  sixteen  years  he  was  found  on  the 
Supreme  Bench  of  the  State.  In  1844  Mr.  Thurman  was 
elected  to  Congress,  holding  the  position  for  one  term. 


Life  of  AUan  G.  Thurman.  19 

Declining  a  renomi nation,  he  retained  to  bis  practice  of 
law.     He  continued  at  the  bar  until  1851,  when,  a  new 
constitution  for  Ohio  having  been  adopted,  he  was  elected 
to  the  Ohio  Supreme  bench,  serving  as  Chief  Justice  from 
December,  1854,  to  February,  1856,  refusing  a  rcnomination 
at  the  close  of  his  term.     Judge  Thurman's  opinions,  con- 
tained in  the  Ohio  State  Reports,  are  noted  for  their  clear- 
ness and  accuracy.     No  man  who  ever  sat  on  the  Bench  of 
Ohio  gained  greater  honor  for  learned  and  unbiased  decisions. 
Judge  Thurman  is  a  man  who  never  sought  public  office — 
the  office  sought  the  man.    In  1866  the  Republican  party  of 
Ohio  had  a  majority  of  over  40,000 ;   the  Democratic  party 
had  little  hopes  of  overcoming  this  large  majority,  but  decided 
in  1867  that  if  any  man  in  their  party  was  equal  to  the 
emergency,  that  man  was  Judge  Thurman,  and  he  was 
unanimously  nominated  for  the  governorship.     Such  a  call 
he  could  not  refuse.    He  entered  the  strife  with  earnestness, 
a  characteristic  of  the  man;  the  struggle  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  in  Ohio  politics.     The  issue  in  that  campaign 
was,  whether  the  Constitution  of  Ohio  should  be  amended 
so  as  to  permit  of  negro  suffraga     The  Republicans  being 
for,  the  Democrats  against  such  a  measure.     Although  Mr. 
Thurman  was  defeated,  he  succeeded,  by  his  management  of 
the  campaign  and  his  own  public  speeches,  in  reducing  the 
Republican  majority  of  over  40,000  in  1866  to  about  3,000. 
Although  himself  defeated,  yet  he  won  for  his  party  not 
only  a  majority  of  over  fifty  thousand  votes  against  the 
amendment,  but  he  secured  a  majority  for  his  party  of  the 
assembly  and,  as  a  reward  for  his  services,  that  body  elected 
Judge  Thurman,  United  States  Senator  for  the  term  of  1869 
to  1875. 

He  entered  the  Senate  March  4,  1869,  and  was  at  once  a 
power,  and  leader  of  his  party.     He  was  a  leading  member 


20  Life  of  Allan  G.  Tkurman. 

of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  and  also  served  on  the  Com- 
mittee of  Post-Offices,  and  Post  Boada  He  was  also  Pres- 
ident pro  tern,  of  the  Senate  during  Vice  President  Wheeler's 
illness.  In  1872  Ohio  was  carried  by  the  Republicans  with 
a  majority  of  nearly  40,000,  though  this  was  a  decrease  of 
about  2,500  from  previous  votes.  Judge  Thurman  looked 
the  situation  over  carefully  in  1874,  and  decided  that  his 
party  had  a  fighting  chance. 

As  before,  he  entered  the  strife  with  zeal  and  gave  the 
party  the  benefit  of  over  one  hundred  speeches,  and  the 
result  was  a  victory,  complete,  for  his  party  as  well  as  him- 
self, as  he  was  returned  to  the  Senate  for  another  term,  1875 
to  1881. 

While  in  the  Senate,  Judge  Thurman  introduced  many 
useful  messages,  among  them  the  noted  "  Thurman  Act," 
relating  to  the  Pacific  railroads,  by  which  over  one  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  were  saved  to  the  people.  This  measure 
was,  of  course,  bitterly  opposed  by  the  railroads,  and  they 
used  every  means  possible  to  defeat  it. 

The  bill  was  thought  to  be  unconstitutional,  but  Mr. 
Thurman  strongly  claimed  its  constitutionality,  and  his 
claim  was  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  It  may  be  said  here  that  Senator  Edmunds,  a  great 
friend  of  Thurman,  assisted  in  the  preparation  of  the 
"  Thurman  Act" 

The  main  feature  of  this  "Act "  provides  that  the  railroads 
having  land  grants,  shall  pay  into  the  Treasury  a  certain 
part  of  their  earnings,  for  the  liquidation  of  their  debts  to 
the  Government  The  railroad  corporations  had  evidenced 
an  intention  to  evade  payment  of  their  obligations  to  the 
Government 

While  Judpro  Thurman  was  in  the  Senate  the  "Geneva 
Award  Bill"  was  one  of  the  most  important  bills  discussed. 


Life  of  Allan  G.  Thurman.  21 

Judge  Thurman,  Judge  Davis,  Mr.  Conkling,  Mr.  Edmunds 
and  Stanley  Matthews,  the  leading  lawyers  in  the  Senate, 
stood  together  on  this  bill ;  one  of  the  most  noted  on  the 
opposite  side  being  Mr.  Blaine. 

The  debates  between  Mr.  Blaine  and  Judge  Thurman 
were  the  strongest  made,  and  were  sharp  and  hotly  con- 
tested, at  times  approaching  bitterness. 

Judge  Thurman's  retirement  from  the  Senate  in  1881  was 
a  great  loss  to  his  party,  as  well  as  to  the  whole  body.  Mr. 
Blaine,  in  his  "Twenty  Years  in  Congress,"  speaks  of  his 
retirement  as  follows : 

"  His  rank  in  the  Senate  was  established  from  the  very 
day  he  took  his  seat,  and  was  never  lowered  during  his 
period  of  service.  He  was  an  admirably  disciplined 
debater,  was  fair  in  his  methods  of  statement,  logical  in  his 
argument,  honest  in  his  conclusion ;  he  had  no  tricks  in 
discussion,  no  catch  phrases  to  secure  attention,  but  was 
always  direct  and  manly.  *  *  *  His  retirement  from 
the  Senate  was  a  serious  loss  to  his  party — a  loss,  indeed  to 
the  body." 

We  shall  not  be  able  in  this  sketch  to  go  over  all  the 
work  of  this  man  in  the  senate,  but,  as  may  be  supposed, 
his  power  and  influence  were  great,  and  he  was  recognized 
and  admitted  to  be  the  leading  spirit  on  his  side  of  the 
senate,  and  no  one  of  any  party  for  a  moment  questioned  his 
acts  or  sincerity  of  purpose. 

So  prominent  had  this  man  become  that  long  before  the 
time  for  the  National  Democratic  convention  of  1876,  his 
name  was  spoken  of  all  over  the  country  as  the  man  who 
should  be  nominated  for  President  at  that  convention. 

The  cause  of  Judge  Thurman's  not  being  returned  to  the 
senate  for  a  third  time  was  the  same  reason  that  he  was  not 


22  Life  of  Allan  G.  Thurman. 

nominated  for  President  in  1876,  the  opposition  of  party 
faction  in  his  State. 

Again  in  1880  there  was  another  call  for  his  nomination. 
The  Democratic  State  convention  of  Ohio  adopted  resolu- 
tions in  his  favor,  and,  the  convention  held  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  gave  her  entire  vote  to  Thurman  with  a  fair  sup- 
port from  other  States.  Ohio  being  a  strong  Republican 
State,  and  that  the  Eepublican  party  a  few  weeks  before 
had  nominated  James  A.  G-irfield,  of  Ohio,  for  their  candi- 
date, was  probably  the  cause  of  Thurman  not  receiving  the 
majority  of  the  votes,  which  were  given  to  Gen.  Winfield 
S.  Hancock.  In  1881  President  Garfield,  a  warm  friend  of 
Judge  Thurman,  appointed  him  a  representative  of  the 
American  Government  to  the  international  congress  held  at 
Paris.  He  had  always  desired  to  make  a  trip  to  Europe, 
and  taking  advantage  of  this  opportunity,  sailed  from 
New  York,  April  6,  1881;  he  visited  Scotland,  France, 
Switzerland  and  England,  returning  in  the  following 
October. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Europe  he  argued  two  impor- 
tant cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  one 
of  which  involved  the  title  to  a  vast  amount  of  mining 
property  in  Colorado,  aggregating  in  value  many  millions  of 
dollars.  Following  closely  upon  this  he  was  selected,  with 
Chief  Justice  Cooley,  of  Michigan,  and  Mr.  Washburne,  of 
Illinois,  ex-Minister  to  France,  to  serve  upon  an  advisory 
commission  in  the  troubles  as  to  differential  rates  between 
the  trunk  railroads  leading  from  the  Atlantic  sea-board  to 
the  West  He  has  been  living  in  retirement  ever  since,  his 
only  active  service  until  recently  being  in  the  capacity  of 
attorney  for  the  Government  in  its  suits  against  the  Bell 
Telephone  Company.  His  last  appearance  before  the  pub- 


Life  of  Allan  O.  Thurman.  28 

Ho  was  as  principal  counsel  of  the  United  States  in  the 
famous  tally-sheet  forgery  cases  of  Franklin  County. 

Judge  Thurman  is  one  of  the  most  thorough  scholars  in 
public  life  in  this  country.  Always  a  student,  he  became 
early  in  life  a  great  lawyer,  and  since  then  has  devoted  much 
time  to  lighter  study.  He  is  a  fine  French  scholar,  and  his 
favorite  books  are  the  works  of  the  earlier  French  drama- 
tists, which  he  reads  in  the  original  He  has  an  unusually 
large  and  well  selected  library,  and  there  are  few  books  in 
the  range  of  polite  literature  that  he  is  not  familiar  with. 
He  has  a  literal  genius  for  mathematics,  and  frequently 
occupies  himself  in  working  out  the  most  abstruse  and 
intricate  problems.  He  had  no  collegiate  training,  and  has 
no  diploma  save  the  certificate  of  a  grammar  school. 

It  has  been  the  desire  of  Judge  Thurman,  in  late  years, 
to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  private  life,  but  from  time  to 
time  he  has  been  brought  forward  as  the  most  desirable 
man  for  important  positions.  In  1884  he  was  sent  as  dele- 
gate at  large  from  Ohio  to  the  Democratic  convention  in 
Chicago,  and  no  Democrat  in  that  convention  received  more 
attention,  or  was  the  object  of  more  interest  His  parlors 
at  the  Palmer  House  were  thronged  with  callers,  eager  to 
see  and  shake  hands  with  the  "  Old  Roman,"  who  stood  in 
the  center  of  the  room,  red  bandana  in  hand,  the  cynosure  of 
all  admiring  eyes.  Faction  opposition  of  his  State  again 
prevented  his  nomination.  Oo  his  return  to  Columbus, 
reaching  there  at  midnight,  he  was  escorted  to  his  home  by 
a  large  assemblage  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who  bad  met  him 
at  the  depot 

It  was  expected  that  he  would  be  named  for  a  cabinet 
position,  in  recognition  of  his  great  service,  but,  although 
he  was  not,  he  never  murmured  or  complained.  To  those 
who  have  watched  his  public  career,  it  is  no  wonder  that  he 


24  Life  of  Allan  Gf.  Thurmm* 

was  chosen  at  St.  Louis  as  candidate  for  Vice-President  in 
June,  1888.  His  request  for  private  life  was  not  be  heeded ; 
he  is  needed,  and  has  been  called  forth.  Indiana  expected 
this  honor  would  go  to  their  favorite  son,  Governor  Gray, 
but  it  was  learned,  just  before  the  convention  convened, 
that  Judge  Thurman  would  accept  the  nomination,  it  being 
desired  by  President  Cleveland,  and  almost  the  unanimous 
wish  of  the  Democratic  party. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  convention,  the  resolutions  all 
having  been  disposed  of,  the  convention  proceeded  to  the 
nomination  of  a  candidate  for  Vice-President  When  Cali- 
fornia was  called  in  the  list  of  States,  Mr.  Tarpey  was  intro- 
duced, and  proceeded  to  nominate  Allan  G.  Thunnan,  of 
Ohio.  Mr.  Tarpey  spoke  as  follows : 

MB.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN:  This  is  indeed  a  most  pleasant 
duty  which,  through  the  kindness  of  my  friends,  I  have  been  chosen  to 
perform,  and  I  am  truly  grateful  to  my  associates  who  have  to  honored 
me.  I  feel  that  it  was  kindness  alone  and  not  ability  that  prompted  my 
selection  from  the  many  eloquent  gentlemen  who  are  members  of  the 
California  delegation.  But,  sirs,  what  I  lack  in  oratorical  ability,  I,  in 
some  small  measure,  compensate  for  in  my  enthueiasm  in  the  undertaking, 
and  feeling  as  I  do  that  the  most  eloquent  must  fall  short  of  doing  full  jus- 
tice to  the  gentleman  whom  lamhere  tonominate.Ihaveaccepted  the  trust 
with  the  mental  reservation  that  if  nothing  else,  I  am  at  least  earnest  in 
what  I  say  and  filled  with  admiration  for  him  of  whom  I  speak.  That 
I  am  proud  of  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  I  acknowledge,  but  that 
I  am  prouder  still  of  the  man  whom  I  shall  name  I  shall  not  deny,  for  I 
feel,  sirs,  that  this  Republic  holds  no  superior  to  Hon.  Allaa  G. 
Thurman,  of  Ohio.  The  greeting  accorded  his  name  is  a  well-deserved 
tribute.  Its  spontaniety  has  been  nobly  earned.  Be  assured  such  a 
greeting  will  be  accorded  his  name  at  its  every  mention  throughout 
this  Republic,  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  British  line  to  the  gulf. 

Allan  G.  Thurman  —  what  an  epitome  of  American  civil  history  ia 
'embodied  in  that  name!  His  character  and  ability  are  known  to  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  land.  His  public  services  will  be  a  more 
enduring  monument  than  temples  of  stone  or  brass.  History  "or  history 
Will  inscribe  his  name  among  the  list  of  America's  illustrious  eons 


Lift  of  Allan  0.  Thurman.  25 

Taking  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  in  1899,  the  imprint  of 
nia  genius  is  found  deeply  imbedded  in  the  legislation  of  the  country. 
From  his  first  appearance  in  the  Senate  until  his  retirement  from  that 
body  his  voice  was  always  raised  in  behalf  of  the  people  and  in  defense  of 
their  rights.  For  forty  yean  he  has  been  a  prominent  figure  in  public  life, 
and  yet  to-day  no  man  can  point  to  a  single  act  or  expression  of  his  which 
does  not  do  him  credit.  Large  at  heart,  large  of  brain  and  larger  still 
in  experience,  he  is  the  man  of  all  men  whose  record  justifies  his  nom- 
ination at  your  bands  in  the  sense  that  he  cannot  be  defeated  before  the 
people.  A  man  of  benevolent  heart  manifesting  itself  not  only  in 
private  life,  but  it  has  been  the  leading  feature  of  his  official  career. 
When  the  Pacific  coast  was  endeavoring  to  retard  Chinese  immigration, 
when  it  had  decided  that  National  legislation  was  necessary  to  accom- 
plish the  desired  result,  when  the  merits  of  the  subject  were  not  under- 
stood east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  Allan  G.  Thurman,  then  a  Senator 
of  the  United  States,  was  the  first  to  raise  his  voice  in  defense  of  those 
whose  means  of  living  were  in  danger,  and  whose  homes  were  threat- 
ened with  destruction.  When  the  great  railroad  corporations  evidenced 
an  intention  to  evade  payment  of  their  obligations  to  the  Government 
this  great  man  prepared  that  remarkable  enactment  known  as  the 
Thurman  bill,  by  which  the  offending  corporations  were  obliged  to  pro- 
vide a  sinking  fund  for  the  redemption  of  their  promises.  During  the 
trying  times  of  reconstruction,  Mr.  Thurman  was  the  central  figure  in 
the  United  States  Senate  in  upholding  the  dignity  and  the  integrity 
of  the  constitution.  The  waves  of  party  passion,  lashed  into  fury  by 
dl-advised  jealous  partisans,  broke  harmless  upon  his  leonine  froat  and 
were  settled  back  into  calmness  by  the  force  of  hia  logic  and  the  power 
of  his  oratory.  A  ripe  scholar,  his  disquisitions  upon  constitutional 
laws  are  master-pieces  of  reasoning  and  eloquence,  challenging  the  admira- 
tion of  even  his  political  opponents.  Four  years  since  the  California 
delegation  put  forward  Mr.  Thurman  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, and  were  enthusiastic  in  pushing  his  nomination.  These  four 
years  have  but  augmented  their  reverence  and  affection  for  him.  The 
patriot  of  Columbus  cannot  be  allowed  to  wither  in  retirement.  His 
fame  is  not  his  alone,  it  is  the  proud  heritage  of  the  American  people. 
His  name  may  be  most  fittingly  coupled  with  that  of  our  honored 
President,  Grover  Cleveland.  Cleveland  and  Thurman  will  be  a  ticket 
absolutely  invincible.  It  will  sweep  the  country  with  a  mighty  rush,  a 
tidal  wave  of  approval  Against  it  all  opposition  will  be  fruitless.  The 
approval  of  Cleveland's  administration  during  the  past  four  years  and 
indorsement  of  bis  action*,  the  simplicity  yet  remarkable  ability  with 


26  Life  of  Allan  0.  Thurman. 

which  he  has  administered  his  great  trust  under  the  most  trying  circum- 
stances, coupled  with  the  all  pervading  affection  felt  for  the  philosopher 
of  Columbus,  will  make  Cleveland  and  Thurman  a  war-cry  to  affright 
the  political  enemy.  The  enthusiasm  which  will  be  aroused  upon  its 
announcement  will  be  infectious  and,  gathering  force  and  volume  day 
by  day,  it  will  before  the  ides  of  November  have  become  an  epidemic. 

That  the  name  of  Allan  G.  Thurman  should  be  cheered  to  the  echo 
in  this  hall  is  not  strange,  for  it  brings  the  warm  blood  of  gratitude 
surging  to  the  heart  of  every  fireside,  and  the  testimonials  which  the 
people  will  surely  pay  to  his  worth  at  the  coming  November  election 
will  be  convincing  proof  of  his  phenomenal  popularity. 

Indiana  honors  Governor  Gray  by  supporting  him  for  the  nomination; 
Illinois  is  doing  the  same  for  General  Black  ;  Michigan  for  Dickinson  ; 
Wisconsin  for  Vilas ;  good  men  and  true,  each  and  all  of  them,  and 
were  it  not  for  the  self-sacrificing  patriotism  of  Mr.  Thurman,  in 
response  to  the  almost  unanimous  wish  of  the  party,  to  permit  his  name 
to  come  before  you,  it  were  difficult  indeed  to  choose  between  such 
meritorious  and  able  gentlemen.  Their  names  are  fit  to  grace  this  or 
any  other  ticket.  They  are  each  the  favorite  sons  of  their  respective 
States  ;  but  when  Allan  G.  Thurman,  the  favorite  son  of  each  and  every 
State  in  this  Union,  in  answer  to  the  universal  demand  for  his  accept- 
ance, consents  to  leave  the  peace  and  tranquility  of  his  fireside  and  again 
Serve  his  grateful  countrymen,  so  prominent,  so  colossal  is  his  political 
and  mental  figure  in  the  public  eye  that  all  others  must  of  necessity 
shade  in  its  immensity. 

Let  no  mistakes  be  made  at  this  time — mistakes  are  crimes.  If  you 
but  do  your  duty,  if  you  but  give  the  people  what  they  expect,  what 
they  demand,  the  contest  of  parties,  instead  of  just  commencing,  will 
be  practically  ended.  For  the  great  electoral  and  popular  majorities 
which  Cleveland  and  Thurman  will  surely  receive  at  the  polls  will  be  a 
revelation  even  to  ourselves.  As  Representatives  of  the  Democracy  of 
the  Nation  we  have  a  duty  to  perform.  We  must  nominate  the  man 
the  people  have  already  nominated.  We  have  but  to  indorse  the  popular 
verdict.  No  less  will  be  accepted  at  your  hands.  Let  no  consideration 
of  personal  friendship  or  glamour  of  locality  influence  your  action. 
Personal  friendship  can  not  be  repaid  by  nomination  where  a  great 
party's  interest  and  future  are  at  stake.  No  trifling  with  great  concerns 
of  State  should  be  tolerated  ;  no  expression  of  local  pride  can  be  admit- 
ted to  influence  action.  When  the  sovereign  people  speak  they  must  be 
taken.  The  man  of  the  Nation,  not  the  man  of  the  State,  must  be 
nominated. 


Lift  of  AUan  0.  Thurman.  27 

Nominate  Allan  G.  Thurman,  nominate  him  bj  acclamation.  Let  it 
not  be  Maid  that  one  single  Democrat  in  all  this  great  Union  fail  in  this 
great  testimonial  to  the  greatest  American  of  his  day,  the  noblest 
breathing  man  upon  American  soil,  fit  consort  fn  the  temple  of  fame  of 
those  patriots  of  the  past — the  founders  of  our  institution,  whose  sacred 
dust  lie  calmly  sleeping  beneath  the  sods  of  Mount  Vernon,  Monticello 
and  the  Hermitage,  awaiting  the  dedication  of  our  National  pantheon. 

Indiana  presented  Gov.  Isaac  P.  G  ay,  of  Indiana,  and 
Illinois  presented  the  name  of  Gen.  John  C.  Black. 

THUBMAN  NOMINATED. 

The  clerk  read  the  names  of  the  three  candidates:  Thur- 
man,  of  Ohio;  Gray,  of  Indiana,  and  Black,  of  Illinois. 
At  1:35,  amid  the  greatest  excitement,  the  voting  began  on 
roll-call  of  States.  Alabama  opened  the  ballot  by  casting  15 
votes  for  Thurman,  4  for  Gray,  and  1  for  Black.  Georgia 
gave  19  votes  for  Gray  and  9  for  Thurmnn,  putting  him 
away  in  the  lead.  Indiana  voted  solid  for  Gray,  and  Iowa 
asked  to  be  passed.  Kansas  gave  Black  2,  Gray  2,  and 
Thurman  14.  Louisiana  voted  solidly  for  the  old  Roman, 
as  did  also  Maine  and  Maryland.  Massachusetts  divided 
her  vote,  and  Mississippi  stood  solid  for  Thurman.  Missouri 
voted  4  for  Gray,  28  for  Thurman,  and  New  Jersey  followed 
with  her  whole  vote  for  the  old  Roman.  A  courier  for 
New  York's  gift  of  72  votes  came  a  moment  later.  This 
nominated  Thurman,  but  Pennsylvania's  60  votes  clinched 
his  success.  When  Pennsylvania  cast  her  60  electoral  votes 
for  Allan  G.  Thurman,  and  it  was  apparent  that  he  was  the 
nominee,  the  wild  scene  which  attended  President  Cleve- 
land's re-nomination,  Wednesday,  was  re-enacted  in  all  its 
vigor  and  wild  enthusiasm.  The  bands  were  drowned,  and 
Indiana  was  the  first  to  send  her  standard  to  the  stage  with 
the  crimson  bandana  on  top  of  the  staff.  It  was  wildly 
waved  by  Hon.  Dan.  Voorhees,  the  Tall  Sycamore.  The 


28  Life  of  Attan  G.  Thurmcm. 

other  standard-bearers  rallied  round  him,  waving  their  ban- 
ners in  a  galaxy  of  colors,  agitating  the  atmosphere  already 
stirred  into  a  million  conflicting  waves  by  the  frantic,  thun- 
derous cheers  of  the  excited  delegates,  who  stood  upon  their 
chairs  and  howled  with  intense  excitement.  The  Gray  men 
waved  bandanas  as  fiercely  and  fervently  as  the  most 
passionate  of  Ohio's  sons,  and  for  half  an  hour  perfect 
pandemonium  reigned.  The  demonstration  lasted  for  about 
ten  minutes.  After  something  like  order  had  been  restored, 
the  calling  of  States  was  proceeded  with,  but  before  it  was 
completed  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Colorado,  moved  that  Thurman's 
nomination  be  made  unanimous,  and  the  motion  was  sec- 
onded by  Mr,  Shanklin,  of  Indiana,  in  an  earnest  speech. 
The  motion  was  agreed  to,  and  the  nomination  made  unani- 
moua 


THE  LIFE  OF  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

[RtpiMican  Candidate  for  Pruident.} 

The  history  of  Ben. 
jamin  Harrison  and  his 
ancestors  is  full  of  action 
and  interest 

The  Harrison  family 
can  date  their  history 
back  to  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century, 
w  h  e  n  Major- General 
John  Harrison  was  com- 
missioned to  take  Charles 
I.  to  Windsor  for  trial, 
and  later  sat  as  one  of 
the  Judges  in  the  trial  of 
Charles  L,  and  with 
Scott,  Martyn,  Ireton  and 
three  others,  drew  up  and  signed  the  warrant  on 
January  25,  1649,  that  consigned  that  unfortunate  mon- 
arch to  the  gibbet  Upon  the  accession  of  Charles  II.  to 
the  throne  he  in  turn  executed  the  Judges  and  execu- 
tioners of  his  predecessor,  John  Harrison  among  the  rest 
the  executions  being  signalized  by  their  brutal  ferocity. 
The  descendants  of  two  of  these,  the  Harrisons  and  the, 
Okeys,  contributed  largely  to  the  great  names  which  grace 
the  pages  of  Ohio's  history.  The  immediate  descendants  of 

29 


gO  Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 

the  unlucky  Cromwellian  General  hied  themselves  from 
England  to  America,  settling  in  Virginia.  The  next  mem- 
ber of  the  family  that  appears  in  history  was  Benjamin 
Harrison,  of  Virginia. 

Senator  Harrison's  great-grandfather,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
of  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  was  prominent  in  public  affairs  from 
1774  until  his  death  in  1791,  being  for  four  years  a  member 
of  Congress  and  three  times  Governor  of  Virginia.  He 
entered  upon  his  public  carreer  in  1774,  soon  after  reaching 
his  majority,  as  a  delegate  to  the  Williamsburg  convention. 

This  Benjamin,  brother-in-law  of  the  Randolphs,  was  the 
athletic  member  of  the  Continental  congress  who,  when 
John  Hancock  was  chosen  its  president  and  showed  some 
diffidence  about  taking  his  seat,  lifted  the  little  man  bodily 
into  the  chair,  exclaiming,  "We  will  show  Mother  Britain 
how  little  we  care  for  her  by  making  a  Massachusetts  man 
our  president  whom  she  has  excluded  from  pardon  by  a 
public  proclamation." 

Gen.  William  Henry  Harrison,  his  son,  served  his  country 
almost  continuously  from  1791  to  1841,  both  in  military  and 
civil  positions.  He  fought  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  in 
1811,  was  a  member  of  Congress,  a  United  States  Senator 
from  Ohio,  Minister  to  the  Republic  of  Colombia,  and  for 
one  month  (March  4  to  April  4,  1841,  when  he  died),  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

He  had  three  sons,  John  Scott  Harrison,  William  Henry 
Harrison,  who  died  without  issue,  and  Randolph  Harrison, 
who  died  some  years  ago  near  Hamilton,  Ohio,  and  whose 
daughter  married  Colonel  D.  W.  McClung,  Collector  of 
Port,  of  Cincinnati,  appointed  by  President  Garfield. 

John  Scott  Harrison,  the  son  of  William  Henry  Harrison, 
tad  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  all  his  life 


Lift  of  Benjamin  Harrison.  81 

a  farmer  in  southern  Ohio.  He  served  four  years  in  Con- 
gress, from  1852  to  1856,  as  a  member  from  the  Cincinnati 
district  He  died  about  twelve  years  ago. 

His  son,  Benjamin  Harrison,  the  Republican  party's 
nominee  for  President,  is  a  man  slightly  under  the  medium 
height  '  His  figure,  however,  is  very  broad  and  compact 
His  large  head  is  set  well  down  between  his  broad,  high 
shoulders,  as  his  neck  is  very  short  His  face  is  of  an 
almost  deadly  pallor,  although  he  enjoys  excellent  health. 
His  eyes  are  a  grayish-blue,  deeply  set  under  a  very  promi- 
nent, bulging  forehead.  His  nose  is  straight,  slightly  curv- 
ing outward,  and  square  at  the  end.  His  thin-lipped  mouth 
is  shaded  by  a  very  light,  long,  curling  mustache,  while  the 
lower  part  of  his  face  is  hidden  in  a  long,  sandy,  gray  beard. 
The  hair  upon  his  head  is  of  the  same  color,  and  is  combed 
very  smoothly  tight  to  hia  head,  so  as  to  show  plainly  the 
outline  of  the  skull.  He  always  dresses  plainly  in  black. 
He  is  a  reserved  man,  and  keeps  much  to  himself.  He  is 
domestic  in  his  habits,  and  thoroughly  devoted  to  his  hand- 
some, delicate- featured,  black-eyed  wife,  who  began  with 
him  a  struggle  for  a  place  and  a  home  in  the  then  Far  West 
when  he  was  only  20  years  of  age.  Those  who  know  Mr. 
Harrison,  however,  say  that  he  is  a  devoted  friend,  and  that 
underneath  his  reserve  he  has  a  most  kindly  heart 

General  Harrison  was  born  at  North  Bend,  Hamilton 
County,  (X,  the  20th  of  August,  1833.  His  life,  up  to  the 
time  of  his  graduation  from  the  Miami  University,  at 
Oxford,  in  that  State,  was  the  comparatively  uneventful 
one  of  a  country  lad  belonging  to  a  family  of  small  means. 
His  father  was  able  to  give  him  a  good  education  and 
nothing  more.  He  graduated  from  college  when  he  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  standing  fourth  in  a  class  of  sixteen, 
having  entered  two  years  before  as  a  member  of  the  junior 


82  Life,  of  Benjamin  Bcvrruon. 

clasSj — kis  teachers  and  classmates  have  borne  testimony 
to  the  ease  with  which  he  held  his  own  in  all  college  contests 
and  his  early  promise  of  future  success.  Prof.  David 
Swing,  who  was  in  college  at  the  time,  says  that 
Harrison,  while  at  Oxford,  though  young,  was  a 
studious  scholar,  and  early  gave  evidence  of  being 
foremost  in  whatever  he  might  undertake.  He  there 
acquired  the  habits  of  study  and  mental  discipline  which 
have  characterized  him  through  life,  enabling  him  to  grap- 
ple with  any  subject  on  short  notice,  to  concentrate  his 
intellectual  forces  and  give  -his  mental  energies  that  sort  of 
direct  and  effective  operation  that  indicates  the  trained  and 
disciplined  mind.  "While  in  college  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Phi  Delta  Theta  fraternity,  in  which  he  still  takes  an 
active  interest.  He  became  engaged  while  at  college  to  the 
daughter  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Scott,  Principal  of  a  female  school 
at  Oxford,  0.  After  graduating  he  decided  to  enter  upon 
the  study  of  the  law.  He  went  to  Cincinnati  and  studied 
there  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Bellamy  S.  Storer  for  two  years. 
At  the  expiration  of  that  time  Mr.  Harrison  received  the 
only  inheritance  of  his  life.  His  aunt,  dying,  left  him  a  lot 
in  Cincinnati,  which  was  valued  at  $800.  Young  Harri- 
eon  regarded  this  legacy  as  a  fortune.  He  decided  to  be 
married  at  once,  to  take  this  money,  go  to  some  Western 
town,  and  begin  the  practice  of  law — he  having  been 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  this  year.  There  was,  however,  one 
difficulty  in  his  way.  He  was  not  yet  21,  and  could  not, 
therefore,  execute  a  deed  of  sale  for  the  lot.  But  he  found 
a  Cincinnati  friend  who  was  willing  to  go  on  a  bond  to 
guarantee  that  he  would  execute  a  deed  when  he  reached 
his  majority;  and  so,  with  this  guarantee,  the  sale  was 
made.  With  $800  in  his  pocket  he  started  out,  with 
a  young  wife  upon  his  arm,  to  fight  for  a  place  in  the  world 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison*  83 

and  a  footing  in  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  the  learned 
professions.  He  decided  to  go  to  Indianapolis,  which  was 
even  at  that  time  (1854)  a  town  of  promise.  He  met  with  but 
little  encouragement  at  first  The  work  he  obtained  during 
the  first  year  amounted  to  almost  nothing.  But  the  $800 
carried  the  young  couple  through  their  first  year.  By  the 
time  the  second  year  was  reached  Harrison  began  to  make 
enough  through  collections  and  trial  cases  before  Justices 
of  the  Peace  to  support  himself  and  family. 

During  the  next  few  years  the  young  lawyer  gradually 
obtained  a  firm  professional  foothold,  becoming  known  as  a 
vigorous,  painstaking  attorney  and  an  eloquent  advocate. 
His  energy  and  application  are  shown  by  the  following 
incident :  Many  years  ago,  before  he  had  attained  promi- 
nence in  his  profession,  he  was  appointed  to  prosecute  a 
negro  charged  with  attempting  wholesale  murder  by  putting 
poison  into  the  coffee  at  a  hotel ;  he  had  only  one  night 
in  which  to  prepare  for  the  trial,  besides  having  had  no 
experience  in  poison  cases  and  no  knowledge  of  poisons. 
He  called  to  his  aid  Dr.  T.  Parvin  (who  has  since  become 
as  distinguished  in  his  profession  as  General  Harrison  has 
in  his),  and  the  two  young  men  spent  the  whole  night  in 
diligent  work  on  the  poison  case.  The  next  day,  to  the 
astonishment  and  bewilderment  of  the  defense,  young 
Harrison  appeared  ready  for  trial  He  conducted  the  prose- 
cution vigorously  and  succeeded  in  having  the  prisoner 
convicted. 

General  Harrison  began  his  work  as  a  Republican  speaker 
in  the  great  campaign  of  1856,  and  ever  since  he  has  been 
a  conspicuous  figure  in  every  campaign  in  Indiana,  and  on 
many  occasions  he  has  appeared  for  his  party  in  other 
States.  It  is  remembered  that  in  the  Lincoln  campaign  of 
1860,  he  and  the  late  Vice-President  Hendricks  happened  to 


84  Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 

have  appointments  to  speak  in  the  same  town  on  the  same 
day.  It  was  arranged  that  they  should  divide  time,  and 
Mr.  Hendricks  expected  to  amuse  himself  by  devouring  the 
white-haired  young  man  who  thus  unexpectedly  became 
his  prey.  He  did  not  do  it ;  the  result  of  the  meeting  being 
a  surprise  to  both  sides.  Democrats  admitted  that  Mr. 
Hendricks  had  met  his  match,  and  Republicans  thought  he 
was  badly  worsted.  The  chairman  of  the  meeting  afterward 
said :  "  I  have  heard  a  good  many  political  debates  in  my 
day,  but  I  never  heard  a  man  skin  an  opponent  as  quickly 
as  Ben  Harrison  did  Hendricks  on  this  occasion." 

LEAVING  THE  COURT  ROOM  FOR  THE  CAMP. 

In  1860,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years,  he  was 
elected  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana 
for  four  years,  and  it  was  during  the  same  year  that 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  "W.  P.  Fishback,  who 
was  with  him  in  college.  In  1862,  when  the  Union 
armies  had  met  with  reverses  in  the  South,  and  volunteers 
had  in  a  measure  ceased  to  offer  themselves,  Gen.  Harrison 
abandoned  the  quiet  and  lucrative  occupation  of  his  office 
to  another,  and,  leaving  a  young  wife  and  infant  children,  he 
obtained  a  lieutenant's  commission,  went  into  camp  with 
Company  A,  of  the  70th  Indiana  Regiment,  and  in  less  than 
thirty  days  led  to  the  front  a  regiment  of  1,010  fighting 
men.  The  regiment  served  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
with  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland;  during  the  Atlanta 
campaign  it  was  attached  to  the  Twentieth  Army  Corps, 
"Fighting  Joe"  Hooker's  command,  General  Harrison  taking 
the  place  of  General  Butterfield,  as  brigade  commander. 
The  reports  of  his  superiors  bear  record  of  his  courage  and 
fighting  qualities  at  the  battles  of  Resaca  and  Peach  Tree 
Creek 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison.  86 

General  Hooker  rode  the  lines  the  day  after  Peach  Tree 
Creek  and,  as  he  shook  hands  with  the  young  commander, 

said :  "  Harrison,  by I'll  make  you  a  brigadier-general 

for  this  fight,"  and  his  word  of  mouth  on  the  battlefield  was 
supplement  by  a  hearty  letter  of  commendation  written 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  few  months  later.  The  fact  that 
he  has  always  been  highly  esteemed  by  the  officers  and  men 
who  served  under  him,  is  high  testimony  to  General  Ham- 
son's  character  as  a  soldier  and  commander.  While  on 
temporary  leave  to  visit  his  family,  General  Harrison  was 
cut  off  from  immediate  return  to  Atlanta  by  the  rebel 
invasion  of  Tennessee  and  Northern  Georgia;  he  took 
command  of  a  brigade  at  Nashville,  however,  and  led  in 
the  bloody  battles  about  that  place,  and  under  General 
George  H.  Thomas — one  of  the  finest  figures  of  the  war — 
aided  in  defeating  Hood  and  putting  his  army  to  flight 
Called  home  to  the  bedside  of  his  two  children,  who  were 
stricken  with  scarlet  ftver,  General  Harrison  was  attacked 
by  the  disease  in  a  malignant  form ;  after  barely  escaping 
a  fatal  termination  of  the  fever  he  rejoined  his  regiment  in 
North  Carolina,  and  remained  with  Sherman's  army  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  returning  to  his  home  a  brevet  briga- 
dier-general. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  General  Harrison  was  re-elected 
Reporter  of  the  Indiana  Supreme  Court,  and  in  the  some 
year  became  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Porter,  Harrison 
&  Fishback.  Porter  (Albert  G.)  was  elected  Governor  of 
Indiana  in  18SO.  In  1876  General  Harrison  was  the  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  Governor.  He  was  averse  to  accepting 
the  nomination,  but  he  made  such  a  gallant  fight  as  to  win 
the  admiration  of  the  country.  He  led  his  ticket  by  2,000 
votes,  and  won  more  fame  in  defeat  than  many  leaders  have 
gained  by  victory.  In  1879  or  1880  he  aided  the  Federal 


86  Itfe  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 

Government  in  prosecuting  certain  Democratic  conspirators 
for  importing  ballot-box  stuff ers  into  Southern  Indiana; 
their  leader  was  convicted  and  was  sentenced  to  the  peni- 
tentiary. 

HIS  CAREER  IN  THE  SENATE. 

In  January,  1881,  General  Harrison  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate  to  succeed  Joseph  E.  McDonald  (Dem.) 

His  term  of  six  years  as  Senator  of  the  United  States 
established  General  Harrison's  reputation  as  a  sound  and 
enlightened  statesman,  and  a  ready,  finished,  and  powerful 
debater.  The  more  his  record  in  the  Senate  is  studied,  the 
clearer  appears  his  claim  to  a  high  place  among  law-makera 
His  Dakota  report  and  speeches,  his  speech  on  the  Edmunds 
resolution  concerning  Civil  Service  reform,  his  speech  con- 
demning the  wholesale  immigration  of  contract  labor,  and 
his  speeches  against  alien  ownership  of  large  tracts  of  the 
National  domain  indicate  the  broad  lines  along  which  his 
activities  manifested  themselves.  His  record  on  the  Chinese 
question  needs  nothing  more  than  this  simple  statement  to 
show  the  folly  of  those  who  once  distrusted  him  on  that 
score :  When  the  first  Chinese  bill  was  before  the  Senate 
he  opposed  certain  features  of  it,  because  he  thought  they 
were  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  existing  treaties ;  but 
he  moved  to  amend  those  portions  of  the  bill  so  that  they 
might  be  in  accord  with  his  view  of  the  treaties  mentioned. 
Those  who  were  in  favor  of  the  bill  steadily  voted  the 
amendments  down,  and  in  order  to  maintain  his  consistency 
General  Harrison  was  thus  obliged  to  vote  against  the  bill, 
which  finally  passed  over  the  President's  veto.  When  the 
next  Chinese  bill  was  before  the  Senate,  General  Harrison 
was  absent  and  did  not  get  a  chance  to  vote  upon  it  When 
the  next  bill  came  before  the  Senate  —  the  one  commonly 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  87 

called  the  Page  bill  —  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations,  of  which  he  was  then  a  member.  That 
committee  unanimously  voted  to  report  the  bill  favorably, 
General  Harrison  voting  with  the  other  members  of  the 
committee.  When  it  came  before  the  Senate  it  was  passed, 
General  Harrison  voting  for  it  Mr.  Fair  said  in  the  Senate 
that  "  this  was  by  all  means  the  best  Chinese  bill  which  had 
been  proposed,"  and  otherwise  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the 
bill  Thus  General  Harrison  was  from  first  to  last  in  favor 
of  the  principle  underlying  the  Chinese  legislation. 

ALWAYS    FAITHFUL    TO    THE    CAUSE    OF    HONEST  MONET. 

One  of  General  Harrison's  strongest  titles  to  public 
respect  and  admiration  is  found  in  the  fact  that  when  the 
inflation  craze  spread  over  the  country  and  swept  from  their 
moorings  many  who  have  since  lived  to  regret  their  infatua- 
tion, he  never  wavered  in  bis  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  honest 
money.  His  position  on  the  question  of  Civil  Service 
reform  is  indicated  by  the  following  sentences  from  the 
speech  with  which  he  opened  the  Indiana  campaign  of 
1SS2 :  "  I  want  to  assure  you  to-night  that  I  am  an  advo- 
cate of  Civil  Service  reform.  My  brief  experience  at  Wash- 
ington has  led  me  often  to  utter  the  wish  with  an 
emphasis  I  do  not  often  use,  that  I  might  be  forever  relieved 
of  any  connection  with  the  distribution  of  public  patronage. 
I  covet  for  myself  the  free  and  un purchased  support  of  my 
fellow-citizens,  and  long  to  be  able  to  give  my  time  and 
energy  solely  to  those  public  affairs  that  legitimately  relate 
to  the  honorable  trost  which  you  have  committed  to  me." 
In  the  course  of  the  same  speech,  in  speaking  of  those 
who  took  no  part  in  the  war,  yet  make  a  strong  claim  of 
being  the  soldiers'  friend,  General  Harrison  gave  utterance 
to  these  earnest  words: 


88  Iffi  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 


11  The  man  who  lived  through  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
and  did  not  make  some  sacrifice  for  the  success  of  the  Union 
armies  —  who  did  not  say  one  brave  word,  nor  do  one  brave 
thing,  when,  with  bare  and  bleeding  breasts,  our  soldiers 
looked  into  the  face  of  death  for  their  country  —  can  never 
be  enshrined  as  the  soldiers'  friend" 

General  Harrison's  term  in  the  Senate  expired  March  4, 
1887,  and  the  Legislature  to  choose  his  successor  was  to  be 
elected  in  the  fall  of  1886.  "  The  history  of  the  campaign," 
says  The  Indianapolis  Journal,  "is  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
the  people.  It  was  in  a  large  degree  General  Harrison's 
campaign.  Though  others  were  good  seconds  and  able 
assistants  he  was  foremost  in  the  fight.  When  others  wav- 
ered he  advanced,  when  they  lost  heart  he  expressed  confi- 
dence ;  he  was  almost  the  only  prominent  Republican  in 
Indiana  who  felt  confident  of  carrying  the  State,  or  who 
thought  it  worth  while  even  to  attempt  to  carry  the  Legis- 
lature. This  is  no  disparagement  of  other  Republican 
leaders,  who  did  yeoman  service  in  the  campaign,  but  it  is  a 
fact  The  result  attested  .General  Harrison's  wisdom  and 
his  work,  the  Republicans  carried  the  State  and  came 
within  a  hair's  breadth  of  carrying  the  Legislature.'* 

HIS  RETURN    TO  THE  BAR. 

Upon  his  retirement  from  public  life  last  year,  General 
Harrison  once  more  devoted  himself  heart  and  soul  to  the 
laborious  but  congenial  duties  of  his  profession.  Of  Gen- 
eral Harrison  as  a  lawyer  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers 
his  old  partner,  the  Hon.  W.  P.  Fishback,  says  :  "  He  pos- 
sesses all  the  qualities  of  a  great  lawyer  in  rare  combination. 
He  prepares  a  case  with  consummate  skill  ;  his  written  plead- 
ings are  models  of  clearness  and  brevity  ;  he  is  peerless  in 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison.  89 

Indiana  as  an  examiner  of  witnesses ;  he  discusses  a  legal 
question  in  a  written  brief  or  an  oral  argument  with  con- 
vincing logic,  and  as  an  advocate  it  may  be  said  of  him  that 
when  he  has  finished  an  address  to  a  jury  nothing  remains 
to  be  said  on  that  side  of  the  case.  I  have  often  heard  able 
lawyers  in  Indiana  and  elsewhere  say  that  he  was  the  hard- 
est man  to  follow  they  had  ever  met ;  no  lawyer  who  ever 
met  General  Harrison  in  a  legal  encounter  has  afterward 
placed  a  small  estimate  upon  his  ability." 

Senator  Benjamin  Harrison  is  a  very  religious  man.  He 
is  a  constant  attendant  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Indianapolis,  and  for  many  years  had  a  Bible  class  composed 
entirely  of  lawyers,  and  his  dissertations  were  said  to  have 
been  remarkably  clear.  President  Harrison  was  a  great 
believer  in  churches,  and  Scott,  his  son,  the  father  of  Ben- 
jamin, was  a  constant  attendant  and  pillar  of  the  church 
at  Cleves.  The  entire  Harrison  family  have  a  decided 
tendency  toward  a  due  observance  of  their  religious  duties, 

Gen.  Harrison  is  not  rich.  His  law  practice  is  large,  but 
he  appears  disinclined  to  set  his  fees  high  enough  to  meet 
the  modern  standard.  He  owns  a  handsome  house  in 
Indianapolis,  where  his  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Pro! 
Scott,  of  Oxford,  0.,  receives  much  company.  They  have  a 
married  daughter,  and  a  son,  Russell,  who  is  becoming 
prominent  in  the  politics  of  Montana  Territory.  General 
Harrison  is  a  member  of  the  Indianapolis  Literary  Club, 
and  occasionally  takes  part  in  its  debates  and  exercises. 

As  has  been  said,  he  is  pre-eminently  a  lawyer.  Politics 
is  a  side  issue  with  him,  but  when  he  practices  politics  he 
practices  as  he  does  the  law,  with  all  his  might 
In  his  private  life  and  personal  character  Gen.  Harrison  has 
the  good  fortune  to  be  unassailable.  Neither  political 
opposition  nor  personal  malice  has  ever  dared  to  attack  him 


40 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 


in  this  regard.  His  character  as  a  citizen,  neighbor,  and 
friend  is  invulnerable. 

The  Eepublican  National  Convention  assembled  at  Chi- 
cago on  June  19,  and  completed  its  work  the  evening  of 
June  25th,  by  the  nomination  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison, 
of  Indiana,  for  President,  and  the  Hon.  Levi  Parsons  Mor- 
ton, of  New  York,  for  Vice-President  General  Harrison 
was  nominated  on  the  eighth  ballot 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  ballots  for  Presiden- 
tial nominees : 


CANDIDATES. 

Ballots  June  22 

Ballots  June  23. 

Ballots  June  25. 

HARRISON  .  . 
SHERMAN  

1st.            2d. 
80         91 
229        249 
84        116 
111        108 
72         75 
99         99 
25         20 
25         18 
28         16 
13  W'dwn 
24  W'dwn 
2           3 
3           2 

35          33 

8d.        4th.        6th. 
94       217        213 
244       235        224 
122       135        142 
123         98         87 
88         88         99 
91    Withdrawn. 
16         —         — 
5         —         — 
Withdrawn. 

8         11          14 
2           1 
2         —         — 
1 
—           1 

35         42         48 

6th. 
231 
244 
137 
91 
73 

12 

1 
1 

40 

7th. 
278 
231 
120 
01 
76 

16 
2 

1 

1 

15 

8th. 
544 
118 
100 
59 
W'n. 

V— 

4 
5 

ALGER  

ORE  SHAM  

ALLISON  

DEPEW  

RUSK  

PHELPS  

INGALLS  

HAWLEY  

FITLER  

McKINLEY  .... 
LINCOLN  

MILLER  

DOUGLASS  .... 
FORAKER  
GRANT  

HAYMOND  
ELAINE  

Total  vote  

830        830 
416        416 

830       829        827 
416       415        414 

830 
416 

831 
416 

830 
416 

Necessary  for 
choice  

THE  LIFE  OF  LEVI  PARSONS  MORTON. 

[BepuNiea*  Candidate  for  Vioe-Prtndent.} 


Levi  Parsona  Morton, 
the  Republican  candi- 
date for  Vice-President, 
was  born  at  Shoreham, 
Vt,  on  May  16,  1824. 
His  father  was  the 
Rev.  Daniel  O.  Mor- 
ton, a  Congregational 
minister  and  a  lineal 
descendant  of  George 
Morton,  who  came  to 
this  country  from  Eng- 
land in  the  ship  Ann 
in  1623.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Morton  received 
only  $600  salary  a  year,  and  therefore  could  give  his  son 
only  a  common  school  education.  His  parents  were  of  old 
New  England  stock,  and,  although  they  were  thrifty,  as 
was  the  character  of  New  Englanders,  they  did  not  accu- 
mulate much  wealth. 

The  boy  early  left  school  and  began  his  business  life  as  a 
clerk  in  a  Concord,  N.  £L,  dry  goods  store,  but  not  until  his 
constitution,  physical  and  mental,  had  been  established  by 
the  best  of  home  influences.  He  applied  himself  so  closely 
to  his  duties  and  developed  a  capacity  for  business  that  he 


of  Lwi  Parsons  Morton. 

soon  gained  the  confidence  of  his  employers  and  was  rapidly 
advanced  in  his  position. 

When  twenty-one,  he  set  up  in  business  for  himself, 
opening  a  dry  goods  store  in  Concord ;  four  years  later,  in 
1849,  he  moved  to  Boston  and  became  a  member  of  the 
dry  goods  firm  of  Beebe,  Morton  &  Co.  His  connection 
with  this  firm  continued  until  1854,  when  he  moved  to 
New  York  and  founded  the  dry  goods  house  of  Morton  & 
Grinnell.  This  firm  became  financially  involved  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  compromised  with  its  creditors  at 
fifty  cents  on  the  dollar, 

HIS  SUCCESSFUL  CAREER  AS  A  BANKER. 

Mr.  Morton,  not  in  the  least  discouraged,  established  a 
banking  house  in  1863.  He  made  money  rapidly,  and  soon 
attained  prominence  in  financial  circles.  One  day  the  l$te 
creditors  of  the  firm  of  Morton  &  Grinnell  received  an 
invitation  from  Mr.  Morton,  to  dine  with  him.  When  they 
sat  down  at  dinner  each  man  found  beneath  his  plate  a 
check  signed  by  Mr.  Morton  for  an  amount  of  money  that 
paid  their  claim  in  full  with  interest  Mr.  Morion  was  not 
legally  bound  to  pay  the  money,  and  his  honorable  conduct 
in  the  matter,  therefore,  won  him  many  friends.  In  1868 
George  Bliss  entered  the  firm,  and  it  became  known  by  its 
present  title  of  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.  The  same  year,  1868, 
Mr.  Morton  founded  the  London  house,  of  Morton,  Hose  & 
Co.,  his  leading  partner  being  Sir  John  Eose,  some  time 
Finance  Minister  of  Canada. 

The  two  firms  took  a  leading  position  as  members  of  the 
syndicate  that  negotiated  United  States  bonds  in  payment 
of  the  Geneva  award  of  $15,000,000  and  the  Halifax  fishery 
award  of  $5,500,000. 

These  two  banking  houses  were  also  largely  instrumental 
in  making  possible  resumption  of  specie  payment  in  the 


Life  of  Levi  Parsons  Morton.  43 

United  States,  and  in  enabling  the  Government  to  fund  the 
United  States  debt  The  syndicate  formed  for  this  pur- 
pose was  headed  by  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.,  and  then  followed 
the  names  of  Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.,  Baring  Brothers  &  Co., 
J.  S.  Morgan  &  Co.,  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  N.  M.  Rothschild  & 
Sons,  and  Jay  Cook,  McCulloch  &  Co.  The  credit  of  the 
Government  was  low  at  that  time,  but  the  firms  named 
above  successfully  floated  a  large  issue  of  5  per  cent,  bonds, 
thus  decreasing  the  rate  of  interest  on  the  mass  of  the 
bonds.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  various  banking 
firms  by  their  action  at  this  time  saved  the  Government 
$70,000,000.  The  firm  of  Morton,  Bliss  &  Co.  has  since  been 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  in  Wall  Street  One  of  its 
most  noted  achievements  was  the  sale  of  $50,000,000  of 
New  York  Central  Railroad  stock  belonging  to  William  EL 
Vanderbilt  to  English  purchasers,  the  firm  being  part  of  a 
syndicate  which  accomplished  this  task. 

TAKING  A  COMMANDING  PLACE  IN  CONGRESS 

Mr.  Morton  entered  into  political  life  in  1876.  Late  in 
the  canvass,  much  to  his  surprise,  the  Republicans  of  the 
Xlth  Congressional  District  nominated  him  as  their  candi- 
date. There  was  not  sufficient  time  to  make  a  thorough 
canvass,  and  Mr.  Morton  was  defeated,  although  he 
reduced  the  usual  Democratic  majority  400  votes.  Mr. 
Morton  courageously  ran  again  for  Congress  in  the  same 
district  in  1878,  and  this  time  was  elected,  receiving  a 
majority  that  exceeded  the  whole  vote  of  his  opponent 
'As  a  member  of  Congress  he  took  a  commanding  position 
whenever  financial  questions  were  under  consideration ;  he 
strongly  opposed  the  bill  providing  fer  the  unlimited  coin- 
age of  silver  dollars,  and  his,  influence  had  a  great  effect  in 
defeating  it  At  the  extra  session  in  1879  he  made  two 


44  tyfe  °f  Ewi  Parsons  Morton. 


speeches  on  the  silver  question,  which  convinced  the  country 
that  he  was  a  master  of  the  complicated  laws  of  finance, 
Without  any  effort  at  oratorical  display,  he  made  felt  the 
weight  of  an  unblemished  reputation,  a  frank,  straightfor- 
ward character,  and  of  sound  views,  which  he  expressed  in 
the  fewest,  tersest  words.  His  course  in  Congress  was 
marked  by  independence  of  judgment  and  moderation,  and 
he  won  the  confidence  and  attachment  of  men  of  both 
parties.  His  social  position  in  Washington  was  a  brilliant 
one;  he  bought  the  house  of  Samuel  Hooper,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  there  entertained  many  guests. 

He  was  re-elected  in  1880.  During  his  service  in  the 
House  of  Kepresentatives  Mr.  Morton  was  known  as  a 
careful  and  conservative  thinker  on  all  public  questions,  and 
his  opinions  were  much  respected  by  his  fellow  members. 
In  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1880,  Mr.  Morton 
was  a  stanch  ally  of  Koscoe  Conkling,  an  advocate  of  the 
renomination  of  Gen.  Grant  for  a  third  term  to  the  Presi- 
dency. When  the  split  came  and  President  Garfield  was 
nominated,  Mr.  Morton  was  offered  the  second  place  on  the 
ticket;  he  declined  the  honor,  and  after  the  triumphant 
success  of  the  ticket  President  Garfield  offered  him  the  port- 
folio of  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Mr.  Morton  also  declined 
the  Cabinet  offer,  saying  he  preferred  to  accept  the  appoint- 
ment of  Minister  to  France,  in  which  office  he  was  confirmed 
by  the  Senate  soon  after  President  Garfield  was  inaugurated. 
Mr.  Morton's  career  as  representative  of  the  American  Gov- 
ernment to  the  French  Eepublic  was  one  of  which  he  may 
justly  feel  proud. 

Mr.  Morton's  business  relations  had  taken  him  many 
times  to  Europe.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  Paris.  His 
first  step  was  to  remove  the  American  Legation  offices  to  a 
more  suitable  place.  They  were  situated  over  a  laundry 


Life  of  Levi  Parsons  Morton.  45 

and  a  grocery  store.  He  hired  a  fine  mansion  for  the  United 
States,  assuming  some  financial  risk.  The  house  was  in  a 
good  neighborhood,  and  it  quickly  became  the  one  place  in 
Paris  where  the  leading  politicians  of  France,  Royalist, 
Republican  and  Radical,  could  socially  meet  The  diplo- 
macy of  the  United  States  was  much  smoothed  by  it 

No  American  Minister  was  ever  more  respected  abroad. 
Mr.  Morton  was  able  to  secure  from  the  French  Cabinet  a 
rescinding  of  the  prohibitory  edict  against  the  American 
hog,  but  the  House  of  Deputies  insisted  upon  the  retention 
of  the  law.  Mr.  Morton  hammered  the  first  nail  in  the 
construction  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  recently  erected  in 
New  York,  and  delivered  a  speech  on  June  15,  1884, 
accepting  the  statue  in  behalf  of  the  American  Government 
He  was  present  at  the  unveiling  of  the  Statue  of  LaFayette, 
at  Le  Puf,  the  birthplace  of  the  French  patriot  Through 
Mr.  Morton's  acquaintance  with  bankers  and  manufacturers, 
the  commercial  relations  of  France  and  the  United  States 
were  made  to  run  smoothly  throughout  his  term.  With 
the  coming  into  power  of  a  Democratic  Administration  at 
Washington,  he  of  course  returned  home,  and  since  then 
has  held  no  office. 

Mr.  Morton  made  his  exit  from  his  post  in  Paris,  in  a 
graceful,  dignified  and  pleasant  manner.  He  had  been  a 
very  popular  Minister,  and  all  who  had  met  him,  in  official 
or  social  life,  were  sorry  to  have  him  go.  He  was  extremely 
obliging,  was  glad  to  promote  any  American  cause  or 
interest,  and  generally  showed  great  tact  in  his  official  and 
social  relations.  He  also  showed  an  American  capacity  for 
getting  quickly  posted,  taking  soundings  and  acting  accord- 
ing to  them, 


4$  Life  of  Levi  Parsons  Morton. 

HIS  MANIFOLD  CHARITIES. 

Mr.  Morton's  manifold  charities,  his  benevolent  disposi- 
tion, and  his  efforts  on  behalf  of  others  are  well  known  to 
his  friends,  though  the  world  at  large  has  not  heard  much 
of  them.  In  1880,  Congress,  moved  bj  the  suffering  in 
Ireland,  placed  the  ship  Constellation  at  the  disposal  of  any- 
one willing  to  send  relief  to  that  afflicted  land.  Some 
weeks  afterward  Mr.  Morton  learned  that  no  offer  had  been 
made  to  load  the  vessel.  Thereupon  he  addressed  a  letter 
to  The  Herald,  in  which  he  said:  "You  are  authorized 
to  announce  that  a  gentleman  known  to  you,  who  declines 
to  have  his  name  made  public,  offers  to  pay  for  one-quarter 
of  the  cargo  of  the  Constellation  if  other  parties  will  make 
up  the  balance."  At  the  same  time  he  had  determined  to 
furnish  the  entire  cargo  if  there  was  any  delay  in  securing 
other  aid.  The  proprietor  of  The  Herald,  however,  and 
W.  B.  Grace  contributed  each  one-quarter,  and  other  gentle- 
men furnished  the  remainder.  The  people  of  this  city  will 
probably  recall  the  Eockaway  Beach  Improvement  troubles 
in  the  summer  of  1880,  when  500  workmen  were  unable  to 
obtain  their  wages  because  of  the  financial  ruin  in  which 
the  gigantic  hotel  enterprise  had  been  involved.  Certifi- 
cates of  indebtedness  were  issued  to  the  workmen,  but  they 
were  useless  to  the  men,  who  needed  food  for  their  wives 
and  children.  At  this  juncture  Mr.  Morton  joined  the 
house  of  Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.,  and  each  contributed  $50,- 
000  for  the  relief  of  the  workingmen.  They  paid  the  full 
amount  of  the  certificates  and  declined  to  accept  any 
discount 

In  1885  he  gave  to  Dartmouth  College  a  house  and  lot 
near  Rollins  Chapel,  for  which  he  paid  $7,500.  The  gift 
waa  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  college  to  erect  an  art 
gallery  ana  museum.  When  Mr.  Morton  was  mad« 


Life  of  Lew  Parsons  Morton,  47 

Minister  to  France,  Dartmouth  conferred  on  him  the  degree 
of  LL.  D. 

Mr.  Morton  was  heartily  in  favor  of  the  oleomargarine 
laws  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  in  1884,  1886 
and  1886.  In  a  letter  written  by  him  in  the  latter  year,  he 
said :  "  I  am  heartily  in  accord  with  any  proposed  legisla- 
tion that  will  protect  the  dairy  interest,  and  I  should  deem 
it  my  duty  to  earnestly  support  the  passage  of  any  law  cal- 
culated to  suppress  fraud  in  the  imitation  of  product*  that 
go  into  daily  consumption,  especially  those  from  the  dairy, 
in  which  industry  so  large  a  number  of  our  people  are 
engaged  I  believe  that  after  the  experience  we  have  had 
of  the  operation  of  the  present  law,  Congress  would  consider 
favorably  the  proposition  to  make  such  changes  in  it  as 
would  more  effectually  prevent  the  sale  of  oleomargarine 
for  natural  butter  in  the  future." 

HIS  CITY  HOME. 

l£r.  Morton*!  home,  at  No.  85  Fifth  avenue,  New  York 
city,  is  a  large  brown-stone,  double  house,  with  a  large 
door-way  and  a  broad  hall  running  through  the  centre 
to  a  dining-room  at  the  back.  On  the  wall  of  the  hall 
to  the  right  one  sees  an  excellent  portrait  of  President 
Garfield ;  while  on  the  left  is  one  of  Benjamin  Constant's 
famous  oil  paintings,  representing  the  interior  of  an 
Oriental  dwelling.  The  parlors  of  the  house  are  entered 
from  a  door  at  the  right  hand,  and  Mr.  Morton's 
library  by  a  door  to  the  left.  Beyond,  one  sees  a  great 
stairway  winding  its  way  to  the  upper  rooms  of  the  house, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  hall  the  glass  doors  of  the  dining 
room.  The  latter  is  of  a  stately  character,  occupying  almost 
the  entire  width  of  the  house.  Several  handsome  oil  paint- 
ings 01  me  rrencn  scnooi  occupy  its  wails,  ana  a  oeauuiu 


48  Life  of  Levi  Parsons  Morton. 

chandelier  hangs  over  the  centre  table.  Beyond  the  dining 
room  is  a  large  conservatory  for  flowers.  Visitors  have 
usually  found  Mr.  Morton  at  work  in  his  library.  The 
room  is  a  highly  interesting  one,  owing  to  its  pictures  and 
decorations.  While  Minister  to  France  Mr.  Morton  pur- 
chased a  rare  portrait  of  Washington  and  another  rare  one 
of  Lafayette.  These  hang  on  the  wall,  against  which  his 
writing  desk  is  placed.  Immediately  above  the  desk  on  the 
wall  is  an  almost  life-size  photograph  of  Gambetta.  This 
picture  is  one  of  the  most  faithful  representations  of  the 
great  French  orator  ever  made.  There  hangs  by  the  window 
that  looks  out  into  Fifth  ave.  a  portrait  of  President  Arthur, 
a  most  excellent  likeness.  By  its  side  is  a  photograph  of 
Marshal  McMahon  and  another  of  the  Count  de  Kocham beau. 
On  another  wall  there  hangs  the  portraits  in  oil  of  Mr. 
Morton's  father,  the  Eev.  Daniel  0.  Morton,  and  of  his 
mother's  brother,  the  Eev.  Levi  Parsons,  the  first  American 
missionary  to  Palestine,  from  whom  he  obtained  his  sur- 
name. There  is  also  a  daguerreotype  of  the  country  store 
in  Concord,  N.  H.,  in  which  Mr.  Morton  began  his  business 
life.  In  front  of  the  grate  fire  on  the  floor  one  sees  some 
interesting  historical  relics.  They  are  two  large  spherical 
iron  shells  which  were  thrown  into  Paris  by  the  German 
cannon  in  1871.  Some  brass  chains  connect  the  two  shells 
and  serve  as  a  fender  to  the  fireplaca  In  the  summer  he 
resides  at  his  summer  seat  Emmersley,  at  Rhinebeck  on  the 
Hudson,  His  wife,  a  remarkably  beautiful  and  accomplished 
woman,  is  several  years  his  junior.  She  has  always  been 
most  popular  in  society.  Levi  P.  Morton  is  a  typical  Amer- 
ican and  a  protectionist  to  the  core. 

The  Repulican  National  convention  assembled  in  Chicago 
on  June  19, 1888,  and  on  the  seventh  day,  after  the  nomina- 
tion of  General  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  for  President^ 


Life  of  Levi  Parsons  Morton.  49 

nominated  Levi  Parsons  Morton,  of  New  York,  for  Vice- 
President.  Mr.  Morton's  name  was  presented  by  the  Hon. 
Warner  Miller,  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Miller,  having  ascended  the  platform,  addressed  the 
convention  as  follows: 

MB.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  o»  THE  CONVENTION  :  The  time 
for  platitudes  and  encomiums  has  past.  We  have  been  in  here  for  nearly 
a  week,  during  which  time  we  have  given  to  the  Republican  party  and 
to  the  American  people  a  platform  of  principles  upon  which  the  great 
loyal  lover  of  America  can  stand.  It  is  an  American  platform  from  top 
to  bottom.  We  have  to-day  put  in  nomination  a  representative  Ameri- 
can, and  one  whom  we  can  all  support  without  any  hesitation  or 
reservation.  New  York  came  here,  sirs,  aud  sought  the  suffrages  of  this 
convention  for  its  most  gifted  and  brilliant  son.  It  came  bringing  you 
assurances  of  victory  in  that  Empire  State  if  you  would  name  our 
candidate  for  President.  But  when  we  learned  that  this  convention  was 
not  likely  to  ratify  our  choice  we  withdrew  him  from  this  convention. 
We  did  it  in  sorrow  but  not  in  anger.  For  many  years  the  Republican 
party  in  the  State  of  New  York  has  been  wrenched  by  factional  strife 
In  our  party.  For  the  first  time  in  almost  a  generation  the  delegation 
from  New  York,  representing  thirty-six  electoral  votes  in  that  State, 
have  come  to  this  convention  and  have  been  able  to  act  in  absolute 
harmony  and  accord.  The  harmony  you  have  witnessed  here  on  the 
part  of  the  delegation  of  the  State  of  New  York  shall  not  cease  here, 
gentlemen  of  the  convention.  We  propose  to  carry  it  home  with  us 
and  to  carry  it  into  the  contest.  *  •  •  * 

We  have  begun  to  organize  victory  here  to-day,  and  if  you  will  aid 
the  State  of  New  York  in  the  efforts  which  it  has  been  making  of  late, 
and  which  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  bring  us  so  far  together— I  say  if 
you  will  aid  us  in  this  convention  to-day  by  taking  our  candidate  for 
Vice-President,  I  give  you  our  word,  one  and  all,  that  from  this  day 
forward  there  shall  be  no  stopping  of  our  onward  march  for  victory  in 
that  State.  Do  not  forget  the  situation,  gentlemen,  wherever  you  may 
come  from — whether  from  Texas,  or  Iowa,  or  California.  Do  not  forget 
that  this  great  battle  is  to  be  fought  out  in  New  York,  Mr.  President 
and  gentlemen.  The  Democratic  party  has  thrown  down  the  gauntlet 
of  battle  there,  aud  they  challenge  us  to  lift  it  Do  not  forget  that  the 
present  Executive  of  the  United  States  and  the  candidate  for  re-election 
comes  from  our  State.  Do  not  forget  that  the  two  most  important 
Secretaryships,  that  of  the  Treasury  auJ  of  the  Navy,  are  to-day  held 


50  Life  of  Levi  Parsons  Morton. 

by  New  York  Democrats ;  and  you  know  what  that  means  In  this  con- 
test.  Do  not  forget  that  the  City  Government  of  our  great  metropolis  la 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Do  not  forget  that  the  State  Goyernment  Is 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy— aye,  and  it  requires  the  courage  of  a  giant 
to  take  up  the  fight  in  New  York.  But  we  propose  to  lift  the  gauntlet 
of  battle,  and  if  you  will  help  us  here  to-day  as  you  only  can  help  us, 
we  will  carry  that  fight  to  a  successful  conclusion.  *  *  *  * 

I  shall  spend  no  time  injdwelling  upon  the  virtues  or  qualifications  of 
our  candidate.  He  Is  a  man  who  has  achieved  great  success  as  a  busi- 
ness man.  He  has  made  an  honorable  record  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  he  has  been  one  of  our  foremost  representatives  In  a  for- 
eign country.  He  is  known  for  his  liberality  by  all  of  our  people. 

If  you  will  here  to-night,  name  by  substantial  unanimity  our  choice, 
we  will  go  home  and  we  will  inscribe  upon  our  banner  "American 
wages  for  American  workmen,  American  markets  for  American  people, 
and  protection  for  American  homes,"  and  in  this  sign  we  cannot  be 
defeated. 

In  behalf  of  the  united  delegation  from  the  State  of  New  York,  aye, 
Mr.  President,  in  behalf  of  the  Republican  party  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  I  name  the  Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton. 

Only  one  vote  was  taken  for  Vice-President,  Mr.  Morton 
receiving  591,  or  178  more  than  a  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates who  voted.  Mr.  Phelps  stood  next  with  119  votes 
and  Mr.  Bradley  was  third  with  103  votes.  The  ballot  was 
as  follows : 

Levi  P.  Morton,  New  York 591 

William  Walter  Phelps,  New  Jersey 119 

W.  O.  Bradley,  Kentucky 103 

Blanche  K.  Bruce,  Mississippi 11 

Walter  F.  Thomas,  Texas 1 

Total  vote 825 

Necessary  for  choice 413 

The  convention  added  to  the  platform  the  following  reso- 
lution, offered  by  Mr.  Boutelle,  of  Maine : 

The  first  concern  of  all  good  government  is  the  virtue  and  sobriety 
of  the  people  and  the  purity  of  the  home.  The  republican  party  cor- 
dially sympathizes  with  all  wise  and  well-directed  efforts  for  the  pro- 
motion of  temperance  and  morality. 

The  resolution  was  adopted  by  an  unanimous  vote,  and 
the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1888,  was  adjourned. 


REPUBLICAN  PLATFORM. 

[Adopted  at  Chicago  Jun*  SI,  1888.} 


The  Republicans  of  the  United  States,  assembled  by 
their  delegates  in  National  Convention,  pause  on  the  thresh- 
old of  their  proceedings  to  honor  the  memory  of  their  first 
great  leader — the  immortal  champion  of  liberty  and  the 
rights  of  the  people  —  Abraham  Lincoln;  and  to  cover  also 
with  wreaths  of  imperishable  remembrance  and  gratitude 
the  heroic  names  of  our  later  leaders  who  have  been  more 
recently  called  away  from  our  councils  —  Grant,  Garfield, 
Arthur,  Logan,  Conkling — may  their  memories  be  faithfully 
cherished. 

We  also  recall  with  our  greetings  and  with  prayer  for  his 
recovery  the  name  of  one  of  our  living  heroes  whose  mem- 
ory will  be  treasured  in  the  history  both  of  Republicans  and 
of  the  Republic — the  name  of  that  noble  soldier  and  favorite 
child  of  victory,  Philip  H.  Sheridan.  In  the  spirit  of  those 
great  leaders  and  of  our  own  devotion  to  human  liberty, 
and  with  that  hostility  to  all  forms  of  despotism  and  oppres- 
sion which  is  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  Republican  party, 
we  send  fraternal  congratulations  to  our  fellow- Americans 
of  Brazil  upon  their  great  act  of  emancipation,  which  com- 
pleted the  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the  two  American 
continents.  We  earnestly  hope  that  we  may  soon  congrat* 
ulate  our  fellow-citizens  of  Irish  birth  upon  the  peaceful 
recovery  of  home  rule  for  Ireland. 

61 


52  Republican  Platform. 

A  FREE  BALLOT. 

We  reaffirm  our  unswerving  devotion  to  the  National  Con- 
stitution and  to  the  indissoluble  union  of  the  States ;  to  the 
autonomy  reserved  to  the  States  under  the  Constitution ;  to 
the  personal  rights  and  liberties  of  citizens  in  all  the  States 
and  Territories  in  the  Union ;  and  especially  to  the  supreme 
and  sovereign  right  of  every  lawful  citizen,  rich  or  poor, 
native  or  foreign  born,  white  or  black,  tq.cast  one  free  bal- 
lot in  public  elections  and  to  have  that  ballot  duly  counted. 
We  hold  the  free  and  honest  popular  ballot  and  the  just 
and  equal  representation  of  all  the  people  to  be  the  founda- 
tion of  our  Eepublican  government,  and  demand  effective 
legislation  to  secure  the  integrity  and  purity  of  elections, 
which  are  the  foundation  of  all  public  authority.  We 
charge  that  the  present  Administration  and  the  Democratic 
majority  in  Congress  owe  their  existence  to  the  suppression 
of  the  ballot  by  a  criminal  nullification  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States. 

UNCOMPROMISING   PROTECTION. 

We  are  unconditionally  in  favor  of  the  American  system 
of  protection ;  we  protest  against  its  destruction,  proposed 
by  the  President  and  his  party.  They  serve  the  interests 
of  Europe ;  we  will  support  the  interests  of  America.  We 
accept  the  issue,  and  confidently  appeal  to  the  people  for 
their  judgment.  The  protective  system  must  be  maintained. 
Its  abandonment  has  always  been  followed  by  general  dis- 
aster to  all  interests,  except  those  of  the  usurer  and  the 
sheriff.  We  denounce  the  Mills  bill  as  destructive  to  the 
general  business,  the  labor  and  the  farming  interests  of  the 
country,  and  we  heartily  indorse  the  consistent  and  patriotic 
action  of  the  Republican  Eepresentatives  in  Congress  in 
opposing  its  passage. 


Republican  Platform.  68 

REDUCTION  OP  SURPLUS. 

We  condemn  the  proposition  of  the  Democratic  party  to 
place  wool  on  the  free  list,  and  we  insist  that  the  duties 
thereon  shall  be  adjusted  and  maintained  so  as  to  furnish 
full  and  adequate  protection  to  that  industry. 

The  Republican  party  would  effect  all  needed  reduction 
of  the  National  revenue  by  repealing  the  taxes  on  tobacco, 
which  are  an  annoyance  and  burden  to  agriculture,  and  the 
tax  upon  spirits  used  in  the  arts  and  for  mechanical  pur- 
poses, and  by  such  revision  of  the  tariff  laws  as  will  tend 
to  check  imports  of  such  articles  as  are  produced  by  our 
people,  the  production  of  which  gives  employment  to  our 
labor,  and  release  from  import  duties  those  articles  of  foreign 
production  (except  luxuries)  the  like  of  which  cannot  be 
produced  at  home.  If  there  shall  still  remain  a  larger 
revenue  than  is  requisite  for  the  wants  of  the  Government, 
we  favor  the  entire  repeal  of  internal  taxes  rather  than  the 
surrender  of  any  part  of  our  protective  system  at  the  joint 
behest  of  the  whisky  trusts  and  the  agents  of  foreign 
manufactures. 

CONTRACT  LABOR  AND  TRUSTS. 

We  declare  our  hostility  to  the  introduction  into  this 
country  of  foreign  contract  labor  and  of  Chinese  labor,  alien 
to  our  civilization  and  our  Constitution;  and  we  demand 
the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  existing  laws  against  it,  and 
favor  such  immediate  legislation  as  will  exclude  such  labor 
from  our  shores. 

We  declare  our  opposition  to  all  combinations  of  capital 
organized  in  trusts  or  otherwise,  to  control  arbitrarily  the 
condition  of  trade  among  our  citizens;  and  we  recommend 
to  Congreaa,  and  the  State  Legislatures,  in  their  respective 


54  Republican  Platform. 

jurisdictions,  such  legislation  as  will  prevent  the  execution 
of  all  schemes  to  oppress  the  people  by  undue  charges  on 
their  supplies,  or  by  unjust  rates  for  the  transportation  of 
their  products  to  market  We  approve  the  legislation  by 
Congress  to  prevent  alike  unjust  burdens  and  unfair  dis- 
criminations between  the  States. 

PUBLIC  DOMAIN. 

We  reaffirm  the  policy  of  appropriating  the  public  lands 
of  the  United  States  to  be  homesteads  for  American  citi- 
zens and  settlers — not  aliens — which  the  Republican  party 
established  in  1862  against  the  persistent  opposition  of  the 
Democrats  in  Congress,  and  which  has  brought  our  great 
Western  domain  into  such  magnificent  development  The 
restoration  of  unearned  railroad  land-grants  to  the  public 
domain  for  the  use  of  actual  settlers,  which  was  begun 
under  the  Administration  of  President  Arthur,  should  be 
continued.  We  deny  that  the  Democratic  party  has  ever 
restored  one  acre  to  the  people,  but  declare  that  by  the 
joint  action  of  Republicans  and  Democrats  about  50,000,000 
acres  of  unearned  lands  originally  granted  for  the  construc- 
tion of  railroads  have  been  restored  to  public  domain,  in 
pursuance  of  the  conditions  inserted  by  the  Republican 
party  in  the  original  grants.  We  charge  the  Democratic 
Administration  with  failure  to  execute  the  laws  securing  to 
settlers  titles  to  homesteads,  and  with  using  appropriations 
made  for  that  purpose  to  harass  innocent  settlers  with  spies 
and  prosecutions  under  the  false  pretense  of  exposing  frauds 
and  vindicating  the  law. 

THE  TERRITORIES  AND  STATEHOOD. 

The  government  by  Congress  of  the  Territories  if  based 
upon  the  necessity  only  to  the  end  that  they  may  become 


Republican  Platform.  56 

States  in  the  Union ;  therefore,  whenever  the  conditions  of 
population,  material  resources,  public  intelligence,  and 
morality  are  such  as  to  insure  a  stable  local  government 
therein,  the  people  of  such  Territories  should  be  permitted 
as  a  right  inherent  in  them  to  form  for  themselves  Constitu- 
tions and  State  Governments  and  be  admitted  into  the 
Union,  Pending  the  preparation  for  Statehood  all  officers 
thereof  should  be  selected  from  the  bona-fide  residents  and 
citizens  of  the  Territory  wherein  they  are  to  serve.  •  South 
Dakota  should  of  right  be  immediatly  admitted  as  a  State 
in  the  Union  under  the  Constitution  framed  and  adopted 
by  her  people,  and  we  heartily  indorse  the  action  of  the 
Republican  Senate  in  twice  passing  bills  for  her  admission. 
The  refusal  of  the  Democratic  House  of  Representatives,  for 
partisan  purposes,  to  favorably  consider  these  bills  is  a  will- 
ful violation  of  the  sacred  American  principles  of  local 
self  •government,  and  warrants  the  condemnation  of  all 
just  men.  The  pending  bills  in  the  Senate  for  acts  to 
enable  the  people  of  Washington,  North  Dakota,  and  Mon- 
tana Territories  to  form  constitutions  and  establish  State 
Governments  should  be  passed  without  unnecessary  delay. 
The  Republican  party  pledges  itself  to  do  all  in  its  power 
to  facilitate  the  admission  of  the  Territories  of  New  Mexico, 
Wyoming,  Idaho,  and  Arizona  to  the  enjoyment  of  self- 
government  as  States,  such  of  them  as  are  now  qualified,  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  the  others  as  §oon  as  they  may 
become  so. 

AGAINST  MOR1CONTS1C  AND   POLYGAMY. 

The  political  power  of  the  Mormon  Church  in  the  Tern- 
torities  as  exercised  in  the  past  is  a  menace  to  free  institu- 
tions too  dangerous  to  be  long  suffered.  Therefore  we 
pledge  the  Republican  party  to  appropriate  legislation 


56  Republican  Platform. 

asserting  the  sovereignty  of  the  Nation  in  all  Territories 
where  the  same  is  questioned,  and  in  furtherance  of  that  end 
to  place  upon  the  statute  books  legislation  stringent  enough 
to  divorce  the  political  from  the  ecclesiastical  power,  and 
thus  stamp  out  the  attendant  wickedness  of  polygamy. 

The  Eepublican  party  is  in  favor  of  the  use  of  both  gold 
and  silver  as  money,  and  condemns  the  policy  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Administration  in  its  efforts  to  demonetize  silver. 

We  demand  the  reduction  of  letter  postage  to  one  cent 
per  ounce. 

In  a  Eepublic  like  ours,  where  the  citizen  is  the  sovereign 
and  the  official  the  servant,  where  no jpower  is  exercised 
except  by  the  will  of  the  people,  it  is  important  that  the 
sovereign  —  the  people  should  possess  intelligence.  The 
free  school  is  the  promoter  of  that  intelligence  which  is  to 
preserve  us  a  free  Nation;  therefore  the  State  or  Nation,  or 
both  combined,  should  support  free  institutions  of  learning, 
sufficient  to  afford  to  every  child  growing  in  the  land  the 
opportunity  of  a  good  common-school  education, 

REHABILITATION  OP  THE   AMERICAN    MERCHANT    MARINE. 

"We  earnestly  recommend  that  prompt  action  be  taken  by 
Congress  in  the  enactment  of  such  legislation  as  will  best 
secure  the  rehabilitation  of  our  American  merchant  marine, 
and  we  protest  against  the  passage  by  Congress  of  a  free- 
ship  bill  as  calculated  to  work  injustice  to  labor  by  lessen- 
ing the  wages  of  those  engaged  in  preparing  materials  as 
v/ell  as  those  directly  employed  in  our  shipyards.  We 
demand  appropriations  for  the  early  rebuilding  of  our  navy; 
for  the  construction  of  coast  fortifications  and  modern  ord- 
nance and  other  approved  modern  means  of  defense  for  the 
protection  of  our  defenseless  harbors  and  cities;  for  the 
payment  of  just  pensions  to  our  soldiers;  for  necessary 


Republican  Platform.  67 

works  of  National  importance  in  the  improvement  of  harbors 
and  the  channels  of  internal,  coastwise,  and  foreign  com- 
merce ;  for  the  encouragement  of  the  shipping  interests  of 
the  Atlantic,  Gulf,  and  Pacific  States,  as  well  as  for  the 
payment  of  the  maturing  public  debt  This  policy  will 
give  employment  to  our  labor,  activity  to  our  various  indus- 
tries, increase  the  security  to  our  country,  promote  trades, 
open  new  and  direct  markets  for  our  produce,  and  cheapen 
the  cost  of  transportation.  We  affirm  this  to  be  far  better 
for  our  country  than  the  Democratic  policy  of  loaning  the 
Government's  money  without  interest  to  "  pet  banks," 

FOREIGN  POLIOT. 

The  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  by  the  present  Administra- 
tion has  been  distinguished  by  its  inefficiency  and  its  cow- 
ardice. Having  withdrawn  from  the  Senate  all  pending 
treaties  effected  by  Republican  Administrations  for  the 
removal  of  foreign  burdens  and  restrictions  upon  our 
commerce,  and  for  its  extension  into  better  markets,  it  has 
neither  effected  nor  proposed  any  others  in  their  stead. 
Professing  adherence  to  the  Monroe  doctrine,  it  has  seen 
with  idle  complacency  the  extension  of  foreign  influence  in 
Central  America,  and  of  foreign  trade  everywhere  among 
our  neighbors.  It  has  refused  to  charter,  sanction,  or 
encourage  any  American  organization  for  constructing  the 
Nicaragua  Canal,  a  work  of  vital  importance  to  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  and  of  our  National  influ- 
ence in  Central  and  South  America ;  and  necessity  for  the 
development  of  trade  with  our  Pacific  territory,  with  South 
America,  and  with  the  islands  and  further  coasts  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean, 


58  ^Republican  Platform. 


FISHERIES. 

"We  arraign  the  present  Democratic  Administration  for 
its  weak  and  unpatriotic  treatment  of  the  fisheries  question, 
and  its  pusillanimous  surrender  of  the  essential  privileges 
to  which  our  fishing  vessels  are  entitled  in  Canadian  ports 
under  the  treaty  of  1818,  the  reciprocal  maritime  legislation 
of  1830,  and  the  comity  of  nations,  and  which  Canadian 
fishing  vessels  receive  in  the  ports  of  the  United  States. 
We  condemn  the  policy  of  the  present  Administration  and 
the  Democratic  majority  in  Congress  towards  our  fisheries, 
as  unfriendly  and  conspicuously  unpatriotic,  and  as  tending 
to  destroy  a  valuable  National  industry,  and  an  indispensa- 
ble resource  of  defense  against  a  foreign  enemy. 

The  name  American  applies  alike  to  all  citizens  of  the 
Republic  and  imposes  upon  all  alike  the  same  obligation  of 
obedience  to  the  laws.  At  the  same  time  that  citizenship 
is  and  must  be  the  panoply  and  safeguard  of  him  who  wears 
it,  and  protect  him,  whether  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  in  all 
his  civil  rights.  It  should  and  must  afford  him  protection 
at  home,  and  follow  and  protect  him  abroad  in  whatever 
land  he  may  be  on  a  lawful  errand. 

CIVIL  SERVICE. 

The  men  who  abandoned  the  Republican  party  in  1884 
and  continue  to  adhere  to  the  Demopatic  party  have 
deserted  not  only  the  cause  of  honest  government,  of  sound 
finance,  of  freedom,  and  surety  of  die  ballot,  but  especially 
have  deserted  the  cause  of  reform  in  the  civil  service.  "We 
will  not  fail  to  keep  our  pledges  because  they  have  broken 
theirs,  or  became  their  candidate  has  broken  his.  W« 
therefore  repeat  our  declaration  of  1884— to  wit:  "The 
reform  of  the  civil  service,  auspiciously  begun  under  the 


Republican  Platform.  69 

\ 

Republican  Administration,  should  be  completed  by  the 
further  extension  of  the  reform  system  already  established 
by  law  to  all  the  grades  of  the  service  to  which  it  is  appli- 
cable. The  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  reform  should  be 
observed  in  all  executive  appointments,  and  all  laws  at 
variance  with  the  object  of  existing  reform  legislation 
should  be  repealed  to  th«  end  that  the  dangers  to  free 
institutions  which  lurk  in  the  power  of  official  patronage 
may  be  wisely  and  effectively  avoided." 

The  gratitude  of  the  Nation  to  the  defenders  of  the  Union 
cannot  be  measured  by  laws.  The  legislation  of  Congress 
should  conform  to  the  pledges  made  by  a  loyal  people,  and  be 
so  enlarged  and  extended  as  to  provide  against  the  possibil- 
ity that  any  man  who  honorably  wore  the  Federal  uniform 
shall  become  an  inmate  of  an  almshouse  or  dependent  upon 
private  charity.  In  the  presence  of  an  overflowing  Treas- 
ury it  would  be  a  public  scandal  to  do  less  for  those  whose 
valorous  service  preserved  the  Government  We  denounce 
the  hostile  spirit  shown  by  President  Cleveland  in  his 
numerous  vetoes  of  measures  for  pension  relief  and  the 
action  of  the  Democratic  House  of  Representatives  in  refus- 
ing even  a  consideration  of  general  pension  legislation. 

In  support  of  the  principles  herewith  enunciated  we 
invite  the  co-operation  of  patriotic  men  of  all  parties,  and 
especially  of  all  workingmen  whose  prosperity  is  seriously 
threatened  by  the  free-trade  policy  of  the  present  Adminis- 
tration, 


DEMOCRATIC  PLATFORM. 

[Adopted  at  St.Louia,  June  7,  1888.} 

The  Democratic  party  of  the  United  States  in  National 
Convention  assembled,  renews  the  pledge  of  its  fidelity  to 
the  Democratic  faith,  and  reaffirms  the  platform  adopted  by 
its  representative  in  the  convention  of  1884,  and  indorses 
the  views  expressed  by  President  Cleveland  in  his  last 
earnest  message  to  Congress  as  the  correct  interpretation  of 
that  platform  upon  the  question  of  tariff  reduction;  and 
also  indorses  the  efforts  of  our  Democratic  representatives 
in  Congress  to  secure  a  reduction  of  excessive  taxation. 

Chief  among  its  principles  of  party  faith  are  the  mainte- 
nance of  an  indissoluble  union  of  free  and  indestructible 
States,  now  about  to  enter  upon  its  second  century  of  unex- 
ampled progress  and  renown,  devotion  to  a  plan  of  govern- 
ment regulated  by  a  written  constitution  strictly  specifying 
every  granted  power  and  expressly  reserving  to  the  States 
or  people  the  entire  ungranted  residue  of  power;  the 
encouragement  of  a  zealous  popular  vigilance,  directed  to 
all  who  have  been  chosen  for  brief  terms  to  enact  and  exe- 
cute the  laws,  and  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  preserving 
peace,  insuring  equality  and  establishing  justice. 

The  Democratic  party  welcomes  an  exacting  scrutiny  of 
the  administration  of  the  executive  power,  whioh  four  years 
ago  was  committed  to  its  trust,  in  the  election  of  Grover 
Cleveland,  President  of  the  United  States,  but  it  challenges 

60 


liij  61 

that  the  most  searching  inquiry  concerning  its  fidelity  and 
devotion  to  the  pledges  which  then  invited  the  suffrages  of 
the  people  during  the  most  critical  period  of  .our  financial 
affairs,  resulting  from  overtaxation,  the  anomalous  condi-  • 
tion  of  our  currency,  and  a  publio  debt  unmatured,  it  has 
by  the  adoption  of  a  wise  and  conservative  course  not  only 
averted  disaster,  but  greatly  promoted  the  prosperity  of  the 
people. 

It  has  reversed  the  improvident  and  unwise  policy  of  the 
Republican  party  touching  the  public  domain,  and  has 
reclaimed  from  corporations  and  syndicates,  alien  and  domes- 
tic, and  restored  to  the  people  nearly  one  hundred  millions 
of  acres  of  valuable  land  to  be  sacredly  held  as  homesteads 
for  our  citizens. 

Vrhile  carefully  guarding  the  interest  to  the  principles  of 
justice  and  equity,  it  has  paid  out  more  for  pensions  and 
bounties  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Republic  than 
was  ever  paid  before  during  the  same  period.  It  has 
adopted,  consistently  pursued,  a  firm  and  prudent  foreign 
policy,  preserving  peace  with  all  nations  while  scrupulously 
maintaining  all  the  rights  and  interests  of  our  own  govern- 
ment and  people  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  exclusion  from  our  shores  of  Chinese  laborers  has 
been  effectually  secured  under  the  provisions  of  a  treaty, 
the  operation  of  which  has  been  postponed  by  the  action  of 
a  Republican  majority  in  the  Senate. 

CIVIL  SERVICE. 

Honest  reform  in  the  civil  service  has  been  inaugurated 
and  maintained  by  President  Cleveland,  and  he  has  brought 
the  publio  service  to  the  highest  standard  of  efficiency,  not 
only  by  rule  and  precept,  but  by  the  example  of  his  own 
untiring  and  unselfish  administration  of  publio  affairs. 


02  Democratic  Platform. 

In  every  branch  and  department  of  the  government  under 
Democratic  control  the  rights  and  the  welfare  of  all  the 
people  have  been  guarded  and  defended;  every  public 
interest  has  been  protected,  and  the  equality  of  all  our  citi- 
zens before  the  law,  without  regard  to  race  or  color,  has 
been  steadfastly  maintained. 

Upon  its  record  thus  exhibited  and  upon  a  pledge  of  a 
continuance  to  the  people  of  the  benefits  of  Democracy,  it 
invokes  a  renewal  of  popular  trust  by  the  re-election  of  a 
chief  magistrate  who  has  been  faithful,  able  and  prudent, 
and  invokes  in  addition  to  that  trust  the  transfer  also  to  the 
Democracy  of  the  entire  legislative  power. 

The  Eepublican  party,  controlling  the  Senate  and  resist* 
ing  both  houses  of  Congress,  a  reformation  of  unjust  and 
unequal  tax  laws,  which  have  outlasted  the  necessities  of 
war  and  are  now  undermining  the  abundance  of  a  long 
peace,  deny  to  the  people  equality  before  the  law,  and  the 
fairness  and  the  justice  which  are  their  right.  Then  the  cry 
of  American  labor  for  a  better  share  in  the  rewards  of 
industry  is  stifled  with  false  pretenses,  enterprise  is  fettered, 
and  bound  down  to  home  markets;  capital  is  discouraged 
with  doubt,  and  unequal,  unjust  laws  can  neither  be  prop- 
erly amended  or  repealed. 

TAXATION. 

The  Democratic  party  will  continue,  with  all  the  power 
confided  in  it,  the  struggle  to  reform  these  laws  in  accord- 
ance with  the  pledges  of  its  last  platform,  indorsed  at  the 
ballot-box  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people.  Of  all  the  indus- 
trious freemen  of  our  land,  the  immense  majority,  including 
every  tiller  of  the  soil,  gain  no  advantage  from  excessive 
tax  laws,  but  the  price  of  nearly  everything  they  buy  is 


Democratic  Platform.  68 

increased  by  the  favoritism  of  an  unequal  system  of  tax 
legislation. 

All  unnecessary  taxation  is  unjust  taxation.  It  is  repug- 
nant to  the  creed  of  Democracy  that  by  such  taxation  the 
cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life  should  be  unjustifiably 
increased  to  all  our  people.  Judged  by  Democratic  princi- 
ples, the  interests  of  the  people  are  betrayed  when,  by 
unnecessary  taxation,  trusts  and  combinations  are  permitted 
to  exist,  while  enriching  the  few  that  combine,  rob  the  body 
of  our  citizens  by  depriving  them  of  the  benefits  of  natural 
competition.  Every  rule  of  governmental  action  is  violated 
when  through  unnecessary  taxation  a  vast  sum  of  money 
far  beyond  the  needs  of  economical  administration  is  drawn 
from  the  people,  the  channels  of  trade,  and  accumulated  as 
a  demoralizing  surplus  in  the  National  Treasury. 

The  money  now  lying  idle  in  the  Federal  Treasury, 
resulting  from  superfluous  taxation,  amounts  to  more  than 
$125,000,000,  and  the  surplus  collected  is  reaching  the  sum 
of  more  than  $60,000,000  annually.  Debauched  by  the 
immense  temptation,  the  remedy  of  the  Republican  party  is 
to  meet  and  exhaust  by  extravagant  appropriations  and 
expenses,  whether  constitutional  or  not,  the  accumulation 
of  extravagant  taxation.  The  Democratic  policy  is  to 
enforce  frugality  in  public  expense  and  abolish  unnecessary 
taxation. 

Our  established  domestic  industries  should  not  and  need 
not  be  endangered  by  the  reduction  and  correction  of  the 
burdens  of  taxation.  On  the  contrary,  a  fair  and  careful 
revision  of  our  tax  laws,  with  due  allowance  for  the  differ- 
ence between  the  wages  of  American  and  foreign  labor, 
must  promote  and  encourage  every  branch  of  such  indus- 
tries and  enterprises  by  giving  them  assurance  of  an 
extended  market  and  steady  and  continued  operations.  In 


£4  Democratic  Platform. 

the  interests  of  American  labor,  which  should  in  no  event 
be  neglected,  the  revision  of  our  tax  laws  contemplated  by 
the  Democratic  party  should  promote  the  advantage  of  such 
labor  by  cheapening  the  cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life  in  the 
home  of  every  workingman,  and  at  the  same  time  securing 
to  him  steady  and  remunerative  employment. 

Upon  this  question  of  tariff  reform,  so  closely  concerning 
every  phase  of  our  National  life,  and  upon  every  question 
involved  in  the  problem  of  good  government,  the 
Democratic  party  submits  its  principles  and  professions  to 
the  intelligent  suffrages  of  the  American  people. 

THE  TARIFF  PLANK. 

The  following  is  the  full  wording  of  the  tariff  plank  in 
the  Democratic  platform  adopted  in  Chicago  in  1884 : 

"  The  Democratic  party  is  pledged  to  revise  the  tariff  in 
a  spirit  of  fairness  to  all  interests.  But  in  making  a  reduc- 
tion in  taxes  it  is  not  proposed  to  injure  any  domestic 
industries,  but  rather  protect  their  healthy  growth.  From 
the  foundation  of  this  government,  taxes  collected  at  the 
custom  house  have  been  the  chief  source  of  Federal 
revenue ;  such  they  must  continue  to  be ;  moreover,  so 
many  industries  have  come  to  rely  upon  legislation  for 
successful  continuance  that  any  change  of  law  must  be 
at  every  step  regardful  of  the  labor  and  capital  involved. 
The  process  of  reform  must  be  subject  in  execution  to  this 
plain  dictate  of  justice — all  taxation  shall  be  limited  to  the 
the  requirements  of  an  economical  government  The 
necessary  reduction  in  taxation  can  and  must  be  affected 
without  depriving  American  labor  of  the  ability  to  compete 
successfully  with  foreign  labor  and  without  imposing  lower 
rates  of  duty  than  will  bo  ample  to  cover  any  increased 


Democratic  Platform.  65 

cost  of  production  which  may  exist  in  consequence  of  the 
higher  rate  of  wages  prevailing  in  this  country.  Sufficient 
revenue  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  Federal  Government, 
economically  administered,  including  pensions  and  interest 
and  principal  of  the  public  debt,  can  be  got  under  our 
present  system  of  taxation  from  custom-house  taxes 
on  fewer  imported  articles,  bearing  heaviest  on  articles  of 
luxury  and  bearing  lightest  on  articles  of  necessity.  We 
therefore  denounce  the  abuse  of  the  present  tariff,  and,  sub- 
ject to  the  preceding  limitations,  we  demand  that  Federal 
taxation  shall  be  exclusively  for  public  purposes,  and  shall 
not  exceed  the  needs  of  the  Government  economically 
administered." 

THE   PLATFORM   ADOPTED. 

Secretary  Pettit,  during  the  reading  of  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions,  was  frequently  compelled  to  stop 
for  several  seconds  while  the  convention  applauded  signifi- 
cant passages  in  the  platform.  There  was  a  moderate  rol- 
ume  of  applause  when  the  opening  sentences  which 
reaffirmed  the  utterances  of  the  tariff  plank  in  the  platform 
of  1884,  but  when  he  followed  endorsing  the  President's 
message  and  declaring  that  it  correctly  interpreted  that 
plank,  the  convention  fairly  rose  to  its  feet  and  cheered 
wildly  for  a  full  minute. 


PROHIBITION  PLATFORM. 

[Adopted  at  Indianapolis,  May  31, 1888.} 

The  Prohibition  party,  in  National  convention  assembled, 
acknowledging  Almighty  God  as  the  source  of  all  power  in 
government,  does  hereby  declare : 

1.  That  the  manufacture,  importation,  exportation,  trans- 
portation and  sale  of  alcoholic  beverages   shall  be  made 
public  crimes,  and  prohibited  and  punished  as  such. 

2.  That  such    prohibition   must    be   secured    through 
amendments  of  our  National  and  State  Constitutions,  en- 
forced by  adequate  laws  adequately  supported  by  adminis- 
trative authority,  and  to  this  end   the  organization  of  the 
Prohibition  party  is  imperatively  demanded  in  State  and 
Nation. 

3.  That  any  form  of  license  taxation,  or  regulation  of 
the  liquor  traffic,  is  contrary  to  good  government ;  that  any 
party  which  supports  regulation  by  license  or  tax,  enters 
into  an  alliance  with  such  traffic  and  becomes  the  actual  foe 
of  the  State's  welfare,  and  that  we  arraign  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  parties  for  their  persistent  attitude  in  favor 
of  the  licensed  iniquity,  whereby  they  oppose  the  demand 
of  the  people  for  prohibition,  and  through  open  complicity 
with  the  liquor  cause  defeat  the  enforcement  of  the  law. 

4  For  the  immediate  abolition  of  the  internal-revenue 
system,  whereby  our  National  Government  is  deriving 
support  from  our  greatest  National  vice. 

M 


Prohibition  Platform.  ($7 

6.  That  an  adequate  public  revenue  being  necessary,  it 
may  properly  be  raised  by  impost  duties,  but  import  duties 
•hould  be  so  reduced  that  no  surplus  should  be  accumulated 
in  the  Treasury,  and  the  burdens  of  taxation  should  be 
removed  from  foods,  clothing  and  other  comforts  and  neces- 
saries of  life,  and  imposed  upon  such  articles  of  import  as 
will  give  protection  both  to  the  manufacturer,  employer  and 
producing  labor  against  the  competition  of  the  world. 

6.  That  civil-service  appointments  for  all  civil  offices, 
chiefly  clerical  in  their  duties,  should  be  based  upon  moral, 
intellectual  and  physical  qualifications,  and  not  upon  party 
service  or  party  necessity. 

7.  That  the  right  of  suffrage  rests  on  no  mere  circum- 
stance of  race,  color  or  nationality,  and  that  where,  from 
any  cause,  it  has  been  withheld  from  citizens  who  are  of 
suitable  age  and    mentally  and  morally  qualified  for  the 
exercise  of  an  intelligent  ballot  it  should  be  restored  by  the 
people  through  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States  on 
such  educational  basis  as  they  may  deem  wise. 

8.  For  the  abolition  of  polygamy  and  the  establishment 
of  uniform  laws  governing  marriage  and  divorce. 

9.  For  prohibiting  all  combination  of  capital  to  control 
and  to  increase  the  cost  of  products  for  popular  consump- 
tion. 

10.  For  the  preservation  and  defense  of  the  Sabbath  as 
a  civil  institution  without  oppressing  any  who  religiously 
observe  the  same  on  any  other  day  than  the  first  day  of  the 
week, 

11.  That  arbitration  is  the  Christian,  wise  and  economic 
method  of    settling  National   differences,  and    the   same 
method  should  by  judicious  legislation  be  applied  to  the 
settlement  of  disputes  between  large  bodies  of  employes 
and  employers;   that  the  abolition  of  the  saloon  would 


03  Prohibition  Platform. 

remove  the  burdens,  moral,  physical,  pecuniary  and  social, 
which  now  oppress  labor  and  rob  it  of  its  earnings,  and 
would  prove  to  be  the  wise  and  successful  way  of  promot- 
ing labor  reform ;  and  we  invite  labor  and  capital  to  unite 
with  us  for  the  accomplishment  thereof. 

18.  That  monopoly  in  the  land  is  a  wrong  to  the  people, 
and  public  land  should  be  reserved  to  actual  settlers,  and 
that  men  and  women  should  receive  equal  wages  for  equal 
work. 

13.  That'our  immigration  laws  should  be  so  enforced  as 
to  prevent  the  introduction  into  our  country  of  all  convicts, 
inmates  of  dependent  institutions  and   others  physically 
incapacitated  for  self-support,  and    that  no  person  shall 
have  the  ballot  in  any  State  who  is  not  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

14.  Kecognizing  and  declaring  that  prohibition  of  the 
liquor  traffic  has  become  the  dominant  issue  in  National 
politics,  we  invite  to  full  party  fellowship  all  those  who,  on 
this  one  dominant  issue,  are  with  us  agreed,  in  the  full 
belief  that  this  party  can  and  will  remove  sectional  differ- 
ences, promote  National  unity  and  insure  the  best  welfare 
of  our  native  land. 

Resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  convention  favoring  the 
payment  of  pensions  to  ex-eoldiers  and  sailors ;  indorsing 
the  work  of  the  Prohibition  army  of  the  Blue  and  the  Gray ; 
condemning  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  for 
denying  the  right  of  self-government  to  the  60,000  people  of 
Dakota,  and  upon  motion  of  a  colored  delegate  from  North 
Carolina,  a  resolution  declaring  "  that  we  hold  that  all  men 
are  born  free  and  equal  and  should  be  secured  in  their 
righta" 


PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  MESSAGE 

TO  CONGRESS. 

[Prom  iht  "  Congrutional  Rtcord,"  December  7, 1997.} 


To  the  Congress  of  the  United  States: 

You  are  confronted  at  the  threshold  of  your  legislative 
duties  with  a  condition  of  the  national  finances  which 
imperatively  demands  immediate  and  careful  consideration. 

The  amount  of  money  annually  exacted,  through  the 
operation  of  present  laws,  from  the  industries  and  necessi- 
ties of  the  people,  largely  exceeds  the  sum  necessary  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  government. 

When  we  consider  that  the  theory  of  our  institutions 
guarantees  to  every  citizen  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  the 
fruits  of  his  industry  and  enterprise,  with  only  such  deduc- 
tion as  may  be  his  share  towards  the  careful  and  economical 
maintenance  of  the  government  which  protects  him,  it  is 
plain  that  the  exaction  of  more  than  this  is  indefensible  ex- 
tortion, and  a  culpable  betrayal  of  American  fairness  and 
justice.  This  wrong  inflicted  upon  those  who  bear  the  bur- 
den of  national  taxation,  like  other  wrongs,  multiplies  a 
brood  of  evil  consequences.  The  public  treasury,  which 
should  only  exist  as  a  conduit  conveying  the  people's 
tribute  to  its  legitimate  object  of  expenditure,  becomes  a 
hoarding-place  for  money  needlessly  withdrawn  from  trade 

09 


70  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

and  the  people's  use,  thu.s  crippling  our  national  energies, 
suspending  our  country's  development,  preventing  invest- 
ment in  productive  enterprise,  threatening  financial  disturb- 
ance, and  inviting  schemes  of  public  plunder. 

The  condition  of  our  Treasury  is  not  altogether  new ;  and 
it  has  more  than  once  of  late  been  submitted  to  the  people's 
representatives  in  the  Congress,  who  alone  can  apply  a 
remedy.  And  yet  the  situation  still  continues,  with  aggra- 
vated incidents,  more  than  ever  presaging  financial  con- 
vulsion and  widespread  disaster. 

It  will  not  do  to  neglect  this  situation  because  its  dangers 
are  not  now  palpably  imminent  and  apparent.  They  exist 
none  the  less  certainly,  and  await  the  unforeseen  and  unex- 
pected occasion  when  suddenly  they  will  be  precipitated 
upon  us. 

On  the  30th  day  of  June,  1885,  the  excess  of  revenues 
over  public  expenditures  after  complying  with  the  annual 
requirement  of  the  sinking  fund  act,  was  $17,859,735.84; 
during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1886,  such  excess  amounted 
to  $49,405,545.20;  and  during  the  year  ended  June  30, 
1887,  it  reached  the  sum  of  $55,567,849.54. 

The  annual  contribution  to  the  sinking  fund  during  the 
three  years  above  specified,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
$138,058,320.94,  and  deducted  from  the  surplus  as  stated, 
were  made  by  calling  in  for  that  purpose  outstanding  three 
per  cent,  bonds  of  the  government.  During  the  six  months 
prior  to  June  30,  1887,  the  surplus  revenue  had  grown  so 
large  by  repeated  accumulations,  and  it  was  feared  the 
withdrawal  of  this  great  sum  of  money  needed  by  the 
people  would  so  affect  the  business  of  the  country  that  the 
sura  of  $79,864,100  of  such  surplus  was  applied  to  the  pay- 
ment of  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  three  percent,  bonds 
still  outstanding,  and  which  were  then  payable  at  the  option 


President  Cleveland'!  Mcssoye  to  Congress.  71 

of  the  government  The  precarious  condition  of  financial 
affairs  among  the  people  still  needing  relief,  immediately 
after  the  80th  day  of  June,  1887,  the  remainder  of  the  three 
per  cent  bonds  then  outstanding,  amounting  with  principal 
and  interest  to  the  sum  of  $18,877,600,  were  called  in  and 
applied  to  the  sinking  fund  contribution  for  the  current 
fiscal  year.  Notwithstanding  these  operations  of  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  representations  of  distress  in  business  cir- 
cles not  only  continued  but  increased,  and  absolute  peril 
seemed  at  hand.  In  these  circumstances  the  contribution 
to  the  sinking  fund  for  the  current  fiscal  year  was  at  once 
completed  by  the  expenditure  of  $27,684,283,55  in  the  pur- 
chase of  government  bonds  not  yet  due  bearing  four,  and 
four  and  a  half  per  cent,  interest,  the  premium  paid  thereon 
averaging  about  twenty-four  per  cent  for  the  former  and 
eight  per  cent  for  the  latter.  In  addition  tb  this  the  inter- 
est accruing  during  the  current  year  upon  the  outstanding 
bonded  indebtedness  of  the  government  was  to  some  extent 
anticipated,  and  banks  selected  as  depositories  of  public 
money  were  permitted  to  somewhat  increase  their  deposits. 

While  the  expedients  thus  employed,  to  release  to  the 
people  the  money  lying  idle  in  the  Treasury,  served  to  avert 
immediate  danger,  our  surplus  revenues  have  continued  to 
accumulate,  the  excess  for  the  present  year  amounting  on 
the  1st  day  of  December  to  $55,258,701. 19,.  and  estimated 
to  reach  the  sum  of  $113,000,000  on  the  30th  of  June- next, 
r,t  which  date  it  is  expected  that  this  sum,  added  to  prior 
accumulations,  will  swell  the  surplus  in  the  Treasury  to 
$  140,000,000. 

There  seems  to  be  no  assurance  that,  with  such  a  with- 
drawal from  use  of  the  people's  circulating  medium,  otir 
business  community  may  not  in  the  near  future  be  subjected 
to  the  same  distress  which  was  quite  lately  produced  from 


72  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

the  same  cause.  And  while  the  functions  of  our  national 
Treasury  should  be  few  and  simple,  and  while  its  best  con. 
dition  would  be  reached,  I  believe,  by  its  entire  disconnec- 
tion with  private  business  interests,  yet  when,  by  a  perver^ 
sion  of  its  purposes,  it  idly  holds  money  uselessly  subtracted 
from  the  channels  of  trade,  there  seems  to  be  reason  for  the 
claim  that  some  legitimate  means  should  be  devised  by  the 
government  to  restore  in  an  emergency,  without  waste  or 
extravagance,  such  money  to  its  place  among  the  people. 

If  such  an  emergency  arises  there  now  exists  no  clear  and 
undoubted  executive  power  of  relief.  Heretofore  the  re- 
demption of  three  per  cent,  bonds,  which  were  payable  at 
the  option  of  the  government,  has  afforded  a  means  for  the 
disbursement  of  the  excess  of  our  revenues;  but  these 
bonds  have -all  been  retired,  and  there  are  no  bonds  out- 
standing, the  payment  of  which  we  have  the  right  to  insist 
upon.  The  contribution  to  the  sinking  fund  which  furnish- 
es the  occasion  for  expenditure  in  the  purchase  of  bonds  has 
been  already  made  for  the  current  year,  so  that  there  is  no 
outlet  in  that  direction. 

In  the  present  state  of  legislation  the  only  pretence  of  any 
existing  executive  power  to  restore,  at  this  time,  any  part  of 
our  surplus  revenues  to  the  people  by  its  expenditure,  con- 
sists in  the  supposition  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
may  enter  the  market  and  purchase  the  bonds  of  the  gov- 
ernment not  yet  due,  at  a  rate  of  premium  to  be  agreed 
upon.  The  only  provision  of  law  from  which  such  a  power 
could  be  derived  is  found  in  an  appropriation  bill  passed  a 
number  of  years  ago ;  and  it  is  subject  to  the  suspicion  that 
it  was  intended  as  temporary,  and  limited  in  its  application, 
instead  of  conferring  a  continuing  discretion  and  authority. 
No  condition  ought  to  exist  which  would  justify  the  grant 
of  power  to  a  single  official,  upon  his  judgment  of  its  necea 


President  ClevelcauTs  JLhstayt  to  Congress.  73 

•ity,  to  withhold  from  or  release  to  the  business  of  the  peo- 
ple, in  an  unusual  manner,  money  held  in  the  Treasury,  and 
thus  affect,  at  his  will,  the  financial  situation  of  the  country; 
and  if  it  is  deemed  wise  to  lodge  in  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  the  authority  in  the  present  juncture  to  purchase 
bonds,  it  should  be  plainly  vested,  and  provided,  as  far  as 
possible,  with  such  checks  and  limitations  aa  will  define  this 
oHicial's  right  and  discretion,  and  at  the  same  time  relieve 
him  from  undue  responsibility. 

In  considering  the  question  of  purchasing  bonds  aa  a 
means  of  restoring  to  circulation  the  surplus  money  accumu- 
lating in  the  Treasury,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  pre- 
miums must  of  course  be  paid  upon  such  purchase,  that 
there  may  be  a  large  part  of  these  ¥onds  held  as  investments 
which  cannot  be  purchased  at  any  price,  and  that  combina- 
tions among  holders  who  are  willing  to  sell  may  unreasona- 
bly enhance  the  cost  of  such  bonds  to  the  government 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  present  bonded  debt  rnighi 
be  refunded  at  a  less  rate  of  interest,  and  the  difference  be- 
tween the  old  and  new  security  paid  in  cash,  thus  finding 
use  for  the  surplus  in  the  Treasury.  The  success  of  this 
plan,  it  is  apparent,  must  depend  upon  the  volition  of  the 
holders  of  the  present  bonds ;  and  it  is  not  entirely  certain 
that  the  inducement  which  must  be  offered  them  would  re- 
sult in  more  financial  benefit  to  the  government  than  the 
purchase  of  bonds,  while  the  latter  proposition  would  reduce 
the  principal  of  the  debt  by  actual  payment,  instead  of  ex- 
tending it 

The  proposition  to  deposit  the  money  held  by  the  gov- 
ernment in  banks  throughout  the  country,  for  use  by  the 
people,*  is,  it  seems  to  me,  exceedingly  objectionable  in 
principle,  as  establishing  too  close  a  relationship  between 
the  operations  of  the  government  Treasury  and  the  business 


74  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

of  the  country,  and  too  extensive  a  commingling  of  their 
money,  thus  fostering  an  unnatural  reliance  in  private  busi- 
ness upon  public  funds.  If  this  scheme  should  be  adopted 
it  should  only  be  done  as  a  temporary  expedient  to  meet  an 
urgent  necessity.  Legislative  and  executive  effort  should 
generally  be  in  the  opposite  direction  and  should  have  a 
tendency  to  divorce,  as  much  and  as  fast  as  can  safely  be 
done,  the  Treasury  Department  from  private  enterprise. 

Of  course  it  is  not  expected  that  unnecessary  and  extrav- 
agant appropriations  will  be  made  for  the  purpose  of  avoid- 
ing the  accumulation  of  an  excess  of  revenue.  Such 
expenditure,  besides  the  demoralization  of  all  just 
conceptions  of  public  duty  which  it  entails,  stimulates  a 
habit  of  reckless  improvidence  not  in  the  least  consistent 
with  the  mission  of  our  people  or  the  high  and  beneficent 
purposes  of  our  government 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  thus  bring  to  the  knowledge 
of  my  countrymen,  as  well  as  to  the  attention  of  their 
representatives  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  legislative 
relief,  the  gravity  of  our  financial  situation.  The  failure  of 
the  Congress  heretofore  to  provide  against  the  dangers 
which  it  was  quite  evident  the  very  nature  of  the  difficulty 
must  necessarily  produce,  caused  a  condition  of  financial 
distress  and  apprehension  since  your  last  adjournment, 
which  taxed  to  the  utmost  all  the  authority  and  expedients 
within  executive  control;  and  these  appear  now  to  be 
exhausted.  If  disaster  results  from  the  continued  inaction 
of  Congress,  the  responsibility  must  rest  where  it  belongs. 

Though  the  situation  thus  far  considered  is  fraught  with 
danger  which  should  be  fully  realized,  and  though  it 
presents  features  of  wrong  to  the  people  as  well  as  peril  to 
the  country,  it  is  but  a  result  growing  out  of  a  perfectly 
palpable  and  apparent  cause,  constantly  reproducing  the 


President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress.  76 

same  alarming  circumstances  —  a  congested  National  Treas- 
ury and  a  depleted  monetary  condition  in  the  business  of 
the  country.  It  need  hardly  be  stated  that  while  the 
present  situation  demands  a  remedy,  we  can  only  be  saved 
from  ft  like  predicament  in  the  future  by  the  removal  of  its 
cause. 

Our  scheme  of  taxation,  by  means  of  which  this  needless 
surplus  is  taken  from  the  people  and  put  into  the  public 
treasury,  consists  of  a  tariff  or  duty  levied  upon  importa- 
tions from  abroad,  and  internal  revenue  taxes  levied  upon 
the  consumption  of  tobacco  and  spirituous  and  malt  liquors. 
It  must  be  conceded  that  none  of  the  things  subjected  to 
internal-revenue  taxation  are,  strictly  speaking,  necessaries; 
there  appears  to  be  no  just  complaint  of  this  taxation  by  the 
consumers  of  these  articles,  and  there  seems  to  be  nothing 
so  well  able  to  bear  the  burden  without  hardship  to  any 
portion  of  the  people. 

.  But  our  present  tariff  laws,  the  vicious,  inequitable,  and 
illogical  source  of  unnecessary  taxation,  ought  to  be  at  once 
revised  and  amended.  These  laws  as  their  primary  and 
plain  effect,  raise  the  price  to  consumers  of  all  articles 
imported  and  subjected  to  duty,  by  precisely  the  sum  paid 
for  such  duties.  Thus  the  amount  of  the  duty  measures 
the  tax  paid  by  those  who  purchase  for  use  these  imported 
articles.  Many  of  these  things,  however,  are  raised  or 
manufactured  in  our  own  country,  and  the  duties  now 
levied  upon  foreign  goods  and  products  are  called  protection 
to  these  home  manufactures,  because  they  render  it  possible 
for  those  of  our  people  who  are  manufacturers  to  make  these 
taxed  articles  and  sell  them  for  a  price  equal  to  that 
demanded  for  the  imported  goods  that  have  paid  customs 
duty.  So  it  happens  that  while  comparatively  a  few  use 
the  imported  articles,  millions  of  our  people  who  never 


76  President  Cleveland! s  Message  to  Congress. 

used  and  never  saw  any  of  the  foreign  products,  purchase 
and  use  things  of  the  same  kind  made  iu  this  country,  and 
pay  therefor  nearly  or  quite  the  same  enhanced  price  which 
the  duty  adds  to  the  imported  articles.  Those  who  buy 
imports  pay  the  duty  charged  thereon  into  the  public 
treasury,  but  the  great  majority  of  our  citizens,  who  buy 
domestic  articles  of  the  same  class,  pay  a  sum  at  least 
approximately  equal  to  this  duty  to  the  home  manufacturer. 
This  reference  to  the  operation  of  our  tariff  laws  is  not 
made  by  way  of  instruction,  but  in  order  that  we  may  be 
constantly  reminded  of  the  manner  in  which  they  impose  a 
burden  upon  those  who  consume  domestic  products  as  well 
as  those  who  consume  imported  articles,  and  thus  create  a 
tax  upon  all  our  people. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  entirely  relieve  the  country  of  this 
taxation.    It  must  be  extensively  continued  as  the  source 
of  the  government's  income;  and  in  re-adjustment  of  our 
tariff  the  interests  of  American  labor  engaged  in  manufac- 
ture should  be  carefully  considered,  as  well  as  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  manufacturers.     It  may  be  called  protection,  or 
any  other  name,  but  relief  from  the  hardships  and  dangers 
of  our  present  tariff  laws  should  be  devised  with  especial 
precaution  against  imperiling  the  existence  of  our  manufac- 
turing interests.     But  this  existence  should  not  mean  a  con- 
dition  which,   without  regard   to  a  public  welfare  or  a 
.national  exigency,  must  always  insure  the  realization  of 
immense  profits  instead  of  moderately  profitable  returns. 
As  the  volume   and  diversity  of  our  national  activities 
increase,  new  recruits  are  added  to  those  who  desire  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  advantages  which  they  conceive  the  present 
system    of    tariff    taxation     directly    affords  '  them.       So 
stubbornly  have  all  efforts  to  reform  the  present  condition 
been  resisted  by  those  of  our  fellow-citizens  thus  engaged, 


President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress.  77 

that  they  can  hardly  complain  of  the  suspicion,  entertained 
to  a  certain  extent,  that  there  exists  an  organized  combina- 
tion all  along  the  line  to  maintain  their  advantage. 

\Ve  are  in  the  midst  of  centennial  celebrations,  and  with 
becoming  gride  we  rejoice  in  American  skill  and  ingenuity, 
in  American  energy  and  enterprise,  and  in  the  wonderful 
natural  advantages  and  resources  developed  by  a  century's 
national  growth.  Yet  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  justify  a 
scheme  which  permits  a  tax  to  be  laid  upon  every  consumer 
in  the  land  for  the  benefit  of  our  manufacturers,  quite 
beyond  a  reasonable  demand  for  governmental  regard,  it 
suits  the  purposes  of  advocacy  to  call  our  manufactures 
infant  industries,  still  needing  the  highest  and  greatest 
degree  of  favor  and  fostering  care  that  can  be  wrung  from 
Federal  legislation. 

It  is  also  said  that  the  increase  in  the  price  of  domestic 
manufactures  resulting  .from  the  present  tariff  is  necessary 
in  order  that  higher  wages  may  be  paid  to  our  workingmen 
employed  in  manufactories,  than  are  paid  for  what  is  called 
the  pauper  labor  of  Europe.  All  will  acknowledge  the 
force  of  an  argument  which  involves  the  welfare  and  liberal 
compensation  of  our  laboring  people.  Our  labor  is  honor- 
able in  the  eyes  of  every  American  citizen ;  and  as  it  lies 
at  the  foundation  of  our  development  and  progress,  it  is 
entitled,  without  affectation  or  hypocrisy,  to  the  utmost 
regard.  The  standard  of  our  laborers'  life  should  not  be 
measured  by  that  of  any  other  country  less  favored,  and 
they  are  entitled  to  their  full  share  of  all  our  advantages. 

By  the  last  census  it  is  made  to  appear  that  of  the 
17,892,099  of  our  population  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  indus- 
tries, 7,670,493  are  employed  in  agriculture,  4,074,288  in 
professional  and  personal  service  (2,984,876  of  whom  are 
domestic  servants  and  laborers),  while  1,810,256  are  em- 


78  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

ployed  in  trade  and  transportation,  and  3,837,112  are  classed 
as  employed  in  manufacturing  and  mining. 

For  present  purposes,  however,  the  last  number  given 
should  be  considerably  reduced.  Without  attempting  to 
enumerate  all,  it  will  be  conceded  that  there  should  be 
deducted  from  those  which  it  includes  375,143  carpenters 
and  joiners,  285,401  milliners,  dressmakers,  and  seamstresses, 
172,726  blacksmiths,  133,756  tailors  and  tailoresses,  102,473 
masons,  76,241  butchers,  41,309  bakers,  22,083  plasterers, 
and  4,891  engaged  in  manufacturing  agricultural  implements, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  1,214,023,  leaving  2,623,089 
persons  employed  in  such  manufacturing  industries  as  are 
claimed  to  be  benefited  by  a  high  tariff. 

To  these  the  appeal  is  made  to  save  their  employment  and 
maintain  their  wages  by  resisting  a  change.  There  should 
be  no  disposition  to  answer  such  suggestions  by  the  allega- 
tion that  they  are  in  a  minority  among  those  who  labor,  and 
therefore  should  forego  an  advantage,  in  the  interest  of  low 
prices  for  the  majority ;  their  compensation,  as  it  may  be 
affected  by  the  operation  of  tariff  laws,  should  at  all  times 
be  scrupulously  kept  in  view ;  and  yet  with  slight  reflection 
they  will  not  overlook  the  fact  that  they  are  consumers  with 
the  rest ;  that  they,  too,  have  their  own  wants  and  those  of 
their  families  to  supply  from  their  earnings,  and  that  the 
price  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  as  well  as  the  amount  of 
their  wages,  will  regulate  the  measure  of  their  welfare  and 
comfort 

But  the  reduction  of  taxation  demanded  should  be  so 
measured  as  not  to  necessitate  or  justify  either  the  loss  of 
employment  by  the  workingman  nor  the  lessening  of  his 
wages ;  and  the  profits  still  remaining  to  the  manufacturer, 
after  a  necessary  readjustment,  should  furnish  no  excuse  for 
the  sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  his  employees  either  in  their 


President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Gongrex.  79 

opportunity  to  work  or  in  the  diminution  of  their  compen- 
sation. Nor  can  the  worker  in  manufactures  fail  to  under- 
stand that  while  a  high  tariff  is  claimed  to  be  necessary  to 
allow  the  payment  of  remunerative  wages,  it  certainly 
results  in  a  very  large  increase  in  the  price  of  nearly  all 
sorts  of  manufactures,  which,  in  almost  countless  forms,  he 
needs  for  the  use  of  himself  and  his  family.  He  receives 
at  the  desk  of  his  employer  his  wages,  and  perhaps  before 
he  reaches  his  home  is  obliged,  in  a  purchase  for  family  use 
of  an  article  which  embraces  his  own  labor,  to  return  in  the 
payment  of  the  increase  in  price,  which  the  tariff  permits, 
the  hard-earned  compensation  of  many  days  of  toil 

The  farmer  and  the  agriculturist  who  manufacture  noth- 
ing, but  who  pay  the  increased  price  which  the  tariff 
imposes,  upon  every  agricultural  implement,  upon  all  he 
wears  and  upon  all  he  uses  and  owns,  except  the  increase  of 
his  flocks  and  herds  and  such  things  as  his  husbandry  pro* 
duces  from  the  soil,  is  invited  to  aid  in  maintaining  the 
present  situation ;  and  he  is  told  that  a  high  duty  on  im- 
ported wool  is  necessary  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have 
sheep  to  shear,  in  order  that  the  price  of  their  wool  may  be 
increased.  They,  of  course,  are  not  reminded  that  the 
farmer  who  has  no  sheep  is  by  this  scheme  obliged,  in  his 
purchases  of  clothing  and  woolen  goods,  to  pay  a  tribute  to 
his  fellow-farmer  as  well  as  to  the  manufacturer  and  mer- 
chant ;  nor  is  any  mention  made  of  the  fact  that  the  sheep- 
owners  themselves  and  their  households  must  wear  clothing 
and  use  other  articles  manufactured  from  the  wool  they  sell 
at  tariff  prices,  and  thus  as  consumers  must  return  their 
share  of  this  increased  price  to  the  tradesman. 

I  think  it  may  be  fairly  assumed  that  a  large  proportion 
of  the  sheep  owned  by  farmers  throughout  the  country  are 
found  in  small  flocks  numbering  from  twenty-five  to  fifty. 


80  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

The  duty  on  the  grade  of  imported  wool  which  these  sheep 
yield  is  ten  cents  each  pound,  if  of  the  value  of  thirty  cents 
or  less,  and  twelve  cents  if  of  the  value  of  more  than  thirty 
cents.  If  the  liberal  estimate  of  six  pounds  be  allowed  for 
each  fleece,  the  duty  thereon  would  be  sixty  or  seventy-two 
cents,  and  this  may  be  taken  as  the  utmost  enhancement  of 
its  price  to  the  farmer  by  reason  of  this  duty.  Eighteen 
dollars  would  thus  represent  the  increased  price  of  the  wool 
from  twenty-five  sheep  and  thirty-six  dollars  that  from  the 
wool  of  fifty  sheep ;  and  at  present  values  this  addition 
would  amount  to  about  one  third  of  its  price.  If  upon  its 
sale  the  farmer  receives  this  or  a  less  tariff  profit,  the  wool 
leaves  his  hands  charged  with  precisely  that  sum,  which  in 
all  its  changes  will  adhere  to  it,  until  it  reaches  the  con- 
sumer. When  manufactured  into  cloth  and  other  goods 
and  material  for  use,  its  cost  is  not  only  increased  to  the 
extent  of  the  farmer's  tariff  profit,  but  a  further  sum  has 
been  added  for  the  benefit  of  the  manufacturer  under  the 
operation  of  other  tariff  laws.  In  the  meantime  the  day 
arrives  when  the  farmer  finds  it  necessary  to  purchase  wool- 
en goods  and  material  to  clothe  himself  and  family  for  the 
winter.  "When  he  faces  the  tradesman  for  that  purpose  he 
discovers  that  he  is  obliged  not  only  to  return  in  the  way  of 
increased  prices  his  tariff  profit  on  the  wool  he  sold,  and 
which  then,  perhaps,  lies  before  him  in  manufactured  form, 
but  that  he  must  add  a  considerable  sum  thereto  to  meet  a 
further  increase  in  cost  caused  by  a  tariff  duty  on  the  man- 
ufacture. Thus  in  the  end  he  is  aroused  to  the  fact  that  he 
has  paid  upon  a  moderate  purchase,  as  a  result  of  the  tariff 
scheme,  which,  when  he  sold  his  wool  seemed  so  profitable, 
an  increase  in  price  more  than  sufficient  to  sweep  away  all 
the  tariff  profit  he  received  upon  the  wool  he  produced  and 
sold. 


President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress.  81 

"When  the  number  of  farmers  engaged  in  wool-raising  is 
compared  with  all  the  farmers  in  the  country,  and  the  small 
proportion  they  bear  to  our  population  is  considered ;  when 
it  is  made  apparent  that,  in  the  case  of  a  large  part  of  those 
who  own  sheep  the  benefit  of  the  present  tariff  on  wool  is 
illusory ;  and,  above  all,  when  it  must  be  conceeded  that  the 
increase  of  the  cost  of  living  caused  by  such  tariff  becomes 
a  burden  upon  those  with  moderate  means  and  the  poor,  the 
employed  and  unemployed,  the  sick  and  well,  and  the  young 
and  old,  and  that  it  constitutes  a  tax  which,  with  relentless 
grasp,  is  fastened  upon  the  clothing  of  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  the  land,  reasons  are  suggested  why  the  removal 
or  reduction  of  this  duty  should  be  included  in  a  revision  of 
our  tariff  laws. 

In  speaking  of  the  increased  cost  to  the  consumer  of  our 
home  manufactures,  resulting  from  a  duty  laid  upon  im- 
ported articles  of  the  same  description,  the  fact  is  not  over- 
looked that  competition  among  our  domestic  producers 
sometime*  has  the  effect  of  keeping  the  price  of  their  pro* 
ducts  below  the  highest  limit  allowed  by  such  duty.  But 
it  is  notorious  that  this  competition  is  too  often  strangled 
by  combinations  quite  prevalent  at  this  time,  and  frequently 
called  trusts,  which  have  for  their  object  the  regulation  of 
the  supply  and  price  of  commodities  made  and  sold  by 
members  of  the  combination.  The  people  can  hardly  hope 
for  any  consideration  in  the  operation  of  these  selfish 
schemes. 

If,  however,  in  the  absence  of  such  combination,  a  healthy 
and  free  competition  reduces  the  price  of  any  particular 
dutiable  article  of  home  production  below  the  limit  which 
it  might  otherwise  reach  under  our  tariff  laws,  and  if,  with 
such  reduced  price,  its  manufacture  continues  to  thrive,  it 
is  entirely  evident  that  one  thing  haa  been  discovered  which 


82  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

should  be  carefully  scrutinized  in  an  effort  to  reduce  taxa- 
tion. 

The  necessity  of  combination  to  maintain  the  price  of 
any  commodity  to  the  tariff  point  furnishes  proof  that  some 
one  is  willing  to  accept  lower  prices  for  such  commodity, 
and  that  such  prices  are  remunerative;  and  lower  prices 
produced  by  competition  prove  the  same  thing.  Thus 
where  either  of  these  conditions  exists  a  case  would  seem 
to  be  presented  for  an  easy  reduction  of  taxation. 

The  considerations  which  have  been  presented  touching 
our  tariff  laws  are  intended  only  to  enforce  an  earnest 
recommendation  that  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  govern- 
ment be  prevented  by  the  reduction  of  our  customs  duties, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  emphasize  a  suggestion  that  in 
accomplishing  this  purpose  we  may  discharge  a  double  duty 
to  our  people  by  granting  to  them  a  measure  of  relief  from 
tariff  taxation  in  quarters  where  it  is  most  needed  and  from 
sources  where  it  can  be  most  fairly  and  justly  accorded. 

Nor  can  the  presentation  made  of  such  considerations  be, 
with  any  degree  of  fairness,  regarded  as  evidence  of  unfriend- 
liness towards  our  manufacturing  interests,  or  of  any  lack 
of  appreciation  of  their  value  and  importance. 

These  interests  constitute  a  leading  and  most  substantial 
element  of  our  national  greatness  and  furnish  the  proud 
proof  of  our  country's  progress.  But  if  in  the  emergency 
that  presses  upon  us  our  manufacturers  are  asked  to  surren- 
der something  for  the  public  good  and  to- avert  disaster, 
their  patriotism,  as  well  as  a  grateful  recognition  of  advan- 
tages already  afforded,  should  lead  them  to  willing  co-oper- 
ation. No  demand  is  made  that  they  shall  forego,  all  the 
benefits  of  governmental  regard ;  but  they  cannot  fail  to  be 
admonished  of  their  duty,  as  well  as  their  enlightened  self- 
interest  and  safety,  when  they  are  reminded  of  the  fact  that 


President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress.  83 

financial  panic  and  collapse,  to  which  the  present  condition 
tends,  afford  no  greater  shelter  or  protection  to  our  manu- 
factures than  to  our  other  important  enterprises.  Oppor- 
tunity for  safe,  careful,  and  deliberate  reform  is  now  offered ; 
and  none  of  us  should  bo  unmindful  of  a  time  NY  hen  an 
abused  and  irritated  people,  heedless  of  those  who  have 
resisted  timely  and  reasonable  relief,  may  insist  upon  a 
radical  and  sweeping  rectification  of  their  wrongs. 

The  difficulty  attending  a  wise  and  fair  revision  of  our 
tariff  laws  is  not  underestimated.  It  will  require  on  the 
part  of  Congress  great  labor  and  cafe,  and  especially  a 
broad  and  national  contemplation  of  the  subject,  and  a  patri. 
otic  disregard  of  such  local  and  selfish  claims  as  are  unreas- 
onable and  reckless  of  the  welfare  of  the  entire  country. 

Under  our  present  laws  more  than  four  thousand  articles 
are  subject  to  duty.  Many  of  these  do  not  in  any  way  com. 
pete  with  our  own  manufactures,  and  many  are  hardly  worth 
attention  as  subjects  of  revenue.  A  considerable  reduction 
can  be  made  in  the  aggregate,  by  adding  them  to  the  free 
list.  The  taxation  of  luxuries  presents  no  features  of  hard- 
ship ;  but  the  necessaries  of  life  used  and  consumed  by  all 
the  people,  the  duty  upon  which  adds  to  the  cost  of  living 
in  every  home,  should  be  greatly  cheapened. 

The  radical  reduction  of  the  duties  imposed  on  raw 
material  used  in  manufactures,  or  its  free  importation,  is  of 
course  an  important  factor  in  any  effort  to  reduce  the  price 
of  these  necessaries;  it  would  not  only  relieve  them  from 
the  increased  cost  caused  by  the  tariff  on  such  material,  but 
the  manufactured  product  being  thus  cheapened,  that  part 
of  the  tariff  now  laid  upon  such  product,  as  a  compensation 
to  our  manufacturers  for  the  present  price  of  raw  material, 
could  be  accordingly  modified.  Such  reduction,  or  free 
Importation,  would  serve,  besides,  to  largely  reduce  the 


84  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress, 

revenue.  It  is  not  apparent  how  such  a  change  can  have 
aay  injurious  effect  upon  our  manufacturers.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  would  appear  to  give  them  a  better  chance  in  for- 
eign markets  with  the  manufacturers  of  other  countries,  who 
cheapen  their  wares  by  free  material.  Thus  our  people 
might  have  the  opportunity  of  extending  their  sales  beyond 
the  limits  of  home  consumption  —  saving  them  from  the 
depression,  interruption  in  business,  and  loss  caused  by  a 
glutted  domestic  market,  and  affording  their  employees 
more  certain  and  steady  labor,  with  its  resulting  quiet  and 
contentment 

The  question  thus  imperatively  presented  for  solution 
ghould  be  approached  in  a  spirit  higher  than  partisanship, 
and  considered  in  the  light  of  that  regard  for  patriotic  duty 
which  should  characterize  the  action  of  those  intrusted  with 
the  weal  of  a  confiding  people.  But  the  obligation  to  de- 
clared party  policy  and  principle  is  not  wanting  to  urge 
prompt  and  effective  action.  Both  of  the  great  political 
parties  now  represented  in  the  government  have,  by  repeat- 
ed and  authoritative  declarations,  condemned  the  condition 
of  our  laws  which  permit  the  collection  from  the  people  of 
unnecessary  revenue,  and  have,  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
promised  its  correction  ;  and  neither  as  citizens  or  partisans 
are  our  countrymen  in  a  mood  to  condone  the  deliberate 
violation  of  these  pledges. 

Our  progress  towards  a  wise  conclusion  will  not  be  im- 
proved by  dwelling  upon  the  theories  of  protection  and  free 
trade.  This  savors  too  much  of  bandying  epithets.  It  is  a 
condition  which  confronts  us  —  not  a  theory  Relief  from 
thus  condition  may  involve  a  slight  reduction-of  the  advan- 
tages which  we  award' our  home  productions,  but  the  entire 
withdrawal  of  such  advantages  should  not  be  contemplated. 
The  question  of  free  trade  is  absolutely  irrelevant ;  and  the 


President  Cleveland's  Messagz  to  Congress.  85 

persistent  claim  made  in  certain  quarters,  that  all  efforts  to 
relieve  the  people  from  unjust  and  unnecessary  taxation  are 
schemes  of  so-called  free-traders,  is  mischievous  and  far 
removed  from  any  consideration  for  the  public  good. 

The  simple  and  plain  duty  which  we  owe  the  people  is  to 
reduce  taxation  to  the  necessary  expenses  of  an  economical 
operation  of  the  government,  and  to  restore  to  the  business 
of  the  country  the  money  which  we  hold  in  the  Treasury 
through  the  perversion  of  governmental  powers.  These 
things  can  and  should  be  done  with  safety  to  all  our  indus- 
tries, without  danger  to  the  opportunity  for  remunerative 
labor  which  our  workingmen  need,  and  with  benefit  to  them 
and  all  our  people,  by  cheapening  their  means  of  subsistence 
and  increasing  the  measure  of  their  comforts. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  President  "shall,  from 
time  to  time,  give  to  the  Congress  information  of  the  state 
of  the  Union."  It  has  been  the  custom  of  the  Executive, 
in  compliance  with  this  provision,  to  annually  exhibit  to  the 
Congress,  at  the  opening  of  its  session,  the  general  condition 
of  the  country,  and  to  detail,  with  some  particularity,  the 
operations  of  the  different  executive  departments.  It  would 
be  especially  agreeable  to  follow  this  course  at  the  present 
time,  and  to  call  attention  to  the  valuable  accomplishments 
of  these  departments  during  the  last  fiscal  year.  But  I  am 
so  much  impressed  with  the  paramount  importance  of  the 
subject  to  which  this  communication  has  thus  far  been  de- 
voted, that  I  shall  forego  the  addition  of  any  other  topic, 
and  only  urge  upon  your  immediate  consideration  the  "state 
of  the  Union  "  as  shown  in  the  present  consideration  of  our 
Treasury  and  our  general  fiscal  situation,  upon  which  every 
element  of  our  safety  and  prosperity  depends. 

The  reports  of  the  heads  of  departments,  which  will  be 
submitted,  contain  full  and  explicit  information  touching 


86  President  Cleveland's  Message  to  Congress. 

the  transaction  of  the  business  intrusted  to  them,  and  such 
recommendations  relating  to  legislation  in  the  public  inter- 
ests as  they  deem  advisable.  I  ask  for  these  reports  and 
recommendations  the  deliberate  examination  and  action  of 
the  legislative  branch  of  the  government 

There  are  other  subjects  not  embraced  in  the  departmental 
reports  demanding  legislative  consideration,  and  which  I 
should  be  glad  to  submit.  Some  of  them,  however,  have 
been  earnestly  presented  in  previous  messages,  and  as  to 
them,  I  beg  leave  to  repeat  prior  recommendations. 

As  the  law  makes  no  provision  for  any  report  from  the 
Department  of  State,  a  brief  history  of  the  transactions  of 
that  important  department,  together  with  other  matters 
which  it  may  hereafter  be  deemed  essential  to  commend  to 
the  attention  of  the  Congress,  may  furnish  the  occasion  for 
a  future  communication. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
WASHINGTON,  D&xm^er  6, 1887, 


PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  MESSAGE 

DISCUSSED. 


JAMES  O.  ELAINE. 


&      PARIS,  December  7,  1887. — After  read- 
ing an  abstract  of  the  President's  message, 
laid  before  all  Europe  this  morning,  I  saw 
Mr.  Elaine  and  asked  him  if  he  would  be 
willing  to  give  his  views  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  President  in  the  form  of 
a  letter  or  interview.     He  preferred  an  interview,  if  I  would 
agree  to  send  him  an  intelligent  shorthand  reporter,  with 
such  questions  as  should  give  free  scope  for  an  expression 
of  his  views.     The  following  lucid  and  powerful  statement 
is  the  result    Mr.  Blaine  began  by  saying  to  the  reporter: 
"I  have  been  reading  an  abstract  of  the  President's 
message,  and  have  been  especially  interested  in  the  com- 
ments of  the  London  papers.     Those  papers  all  assume  to 
declare  the  message  a  free-trade  manifesto,  and  evidently  are 
anticipating  an  enlarged  market  for  English  fabrics  in  the 
United  States  as  a  consequence  of  the  President's  recom- 
mendations.   Perhaps  that  fact  stamped  the  character  of  the 
message  more  clearly  than  any  words  of  mine  can." 

87 


gS  Elaine's  Views  of  ffie  Message. 

"You  don't  mean  actual  free- trade  without  duty?"  que- 
ried the  reporter. 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  Blaine,  "  Nor  do  the  London  papers 
mean  that  They  simply  mean  that  the  President  has  rec- 
ommended what  in  the  United  States  is  known  as  a  revenue 
tariff,  rejecting  the  protective  feature  as  an  object,  and  not 
even  permitting  protection  to  result  freely  as  an  incident  to 
revenue  duties." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  quite  comprehend  that  last  point," 
said  the  reporter. 

"I  mean,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "that  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States  the  President  recommends  re- 
taining the  internal  tax  in  order  that  the  tariff  may  be  forced 
down  even  below  the  fair  revenue  standard.  He  recom- 
mends that  the  tax  on  tobacco  be  retained,  and  thus  that 
many  millions  annually  shall  be  levied  on  a  domestic  pro- 
duct which  would  far  better  come  from  a  tariff  on  foreign 
fabrics." 

"  Then  do  you  mean  to  imply  that  you  would  favor  the 
repeal  of  the  tobacco  tax  ?  " 

"Certainly;  I  mean  just  that,"  said  Mr.  Blaine.  "I 
should  urge  that  it  be  done  at  once,  even  before  the  Christ- 
mas holidays.  It  would,  in  the  first  place,  bring  great  relief 
to  growers  of  tobacco  all  over  the  country,  and  would, 
moreover,  materially  lessen  the  price  of  the  article  to  con- 
sumers. Tobacco  to  millions  of  men  is  a  necessity.  The 
"President  calls  it  a  luxury,  but  it  is  a  luxury  in  no  other 
sense  than  tea  and  coffee  are  luxuries.  It  is  well  to  remem- 
ber that  the  luxury  of  yesterday  becomes  a  necessity  of 
to-day.  "Watch,  if  you  please,  the  number  of  men  at  work 
on  the  farm,  in  the  coal  mine,  along  the  railroad,  in  the  iron 
foundry,  or  in  any  calling,  and  you.  will  find  ninety-five  in 
a  hundred  chewing  while  they  work.  After  each  meal  the 


Elaine  s  Views  of  ffie  Message.  89 

same  proportion  seek  the  solace  of  a  pipe  or  a  cigar.  These 
men  not  only  pay  the  millions  of  the  tobacco  tax,  but  pay 
on  every  plug  and  every  cigar  an  enhanced  price  which  the 
tax  enables  the  manufacturer  and  retailer  to  impose.  The 
only  excuse  for  such  a  tax  is  the  actual  necessity  under 
which  the  government  found  itself  during  the  war,  and  the 
years  immediately  following.  To  retain  the  tax  now,  in 
order  to  destroy  the  protection  which  would  incidentally 
flow  from  raising  the  same  amount  of  money  on  foreign 
imports,  is  certainly  a  most  extraordinary  policy  for  our 
government" 

"  Well,  then,  Mr.  Elaine,  would  you  advise  the  repeal  of 
the  whiskey  tax  also?  " 

"  No,  I  would  not  Other  considerations  than  those  of 
financial  administration  are  to  be  taken  into  account  with 
regard  to  whiskey.  There  is  a  moral  side  to  it  To  cheapen 
the  price  of  whiskey  is  to  increase  its  consumption  enor- 
mously. There  would  be  no  sense  in  urging  the  reform 
wrought  by  high  license  in  many  states  if  the  national  gov- 
ernment neutralizes  the  good  effect  by  making  whiskey 
within  reach  of  every  one  at  twenty  cents  a  gallon. 
Whiskey  would  be  everywhere  distilled  if  the  surveillance 
of  the  government  were  withdrawn  by  the  remission  of  the 
tax,  and  illicit  sales  could  not  then  be  prevented  even  by  a 
policy  as  rigorous  and  searching  as  that  with  which  Eussia 
pursues  the  Nihilists.  It  would  destroy  high  license  at 
once  in  all  the  states. 

"  Whiskey  has  done  a  vast  deal  of  harm  in  the  United 
States.  I  would  try  to  make  it  do  some  good.  I  would 
use  the  tax  to  fortify  our  cities  on  the  seaboard.  In  view 
of  the  powerful  letter  addressed  to  the  Democratic  party  on 
the  subject  of  fortifications  by  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  J- 
Tilden,  in  1885,  I  am  amazed  that  no  attention  has  baon 


90  Blaine's  Views  of  tlie  Message. 

paid  to  the  subject  by  the  Democratic  administratioa 
Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  any  govern- 
ment allowed  great  cities  on  the  seaboard,  like  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Baltimore,  New  Orleans  and  San 
Francisco,  to  remain  absolutely  defenceless." 

"But,"  said  the  reporter,  "you  don't  think  we  are  to  have 
war  in  any  direction  ?  " 

"Certainly  not,"  said  Mr.  Blaine.  "Neither,  I  presume, 
did  Mr.  Tilden  when  he  wrote  his  i  emarkable  letter.  But 
we  should  change  a  remote  choree  I>)io:m  absolute  impossi- 
bility if  our  weak  and  exposed  j/o'  n  strongly  fortified. 
If  to-day  we  had  by  any  chance  ^  >:'  v»ui'  as  we  had  with 
Mexico,  our  enemy  could  procu:e  iioncliuia  in  Europe  that 
would  menace  our  great  cities  with  destruction  or  lay  them 
tinder  contribution." 

"  But  would  not  our  fortifying  now  possibly  look  as  if  we 
expected  war?" 

"  Why  should  it  any  more  than  the  fortifications  made 
seventy  or  eighty  years  ago  by  our  grandfathers  when  they 
guarded  themselves  against  successful  attack  from  the  arma- 
ments of  their  day?  We  don't  necessarily  expect  a  burglar 
because  we  lock  our  doors  at  night,  but  if  by  any  possi- 
bility a  burglar  comes  it  contributes  vastly  to  our  peace 
of  mind  and  our  sound  sleep  to  feel  that  he  can't  get  in." 

"  But  after  the  fortifications  should  be  constructed  would 
you  still  maintain  the  tax  on  whiskey  ?  " 

11  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "  so  long  as  there  is  whiskey  to 
tax  I  would  tax  it,  and  when  the  national  government 
should  have  no  use  for  the  money  I  would  divide  the  tax 
among  the  members  of  the  Federal  Union  with  the  specific 
object  of  lightening  the  tax  on  real  estate.  The  houses  and 
farms  of  the  whole  country  pay  too  large  a  proportion 
of  the  total  taxes.  If,  ultimately,  relief  could  be  given  in 


Elaine  s  Views  of  the  Message.  .         91 

that  direction  it  would,  in  my  judgment,  be  a  wise  and 
beneficent  policy.  Some  honest  but  misguided  friends  of 
"ranee  have  urged  that  the  government  should  not  use 
the  money  derived  from  the  tax  on  whiskey,  My  reply  is 
that  the  tax  on  whiskey  by  the  Federal  government,  with 
its  suppression  of  all  illicit  distillation  and  consequent 
enhancement  of  price,  has  been  a  powerful  agent  in  the 
.temperance  reform  by  putting  it  beyond  the  reach  of  so 
many.  The  amount  of  whiskey  consumed  in  the  United 
States  per  capita  to-day  is  not  more  than  40  per  cent  of  that 
consumed  thirty  years  ago. 

"  In  my  judgment  the  whiskey  tax  should  be  so  modified 
as  to  permit  all  who  use  pure  alcohol  in  the  arts  or  in 
mechanical  pursuits  to  have  it  free  of  tax.  In  all  such 
cases  the  tax  could  be  remitted  without  danger  of  fraud, 
just  as  now  the  tax  on  spirits  exported  is  remitted." 

"Besides  your  general  and  sweeping  opposition  to  the 
President's  recommendation,  have  you  any  further  specific 
objection?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Blaine;  "I  should  seriously  object 
to  the  repeal  of  the  duty  on  wooL  To  repeal  that  would 
work  great  injustice  to  many  interests  and  would  seriously 
discourage  what  we  should  earnestly  encourage,  namely, 
the  sheep  culture  among  farmers  throughout  the  Union. 
To  break  down  wool-growing  and  be  dependent  on  foreign 
countries  for  the  blanket  under  which  we  sleep  and  the 
coat  that  covers  our  backs  is  not  a  wise  policy  for  the 
national  government  to  enforce." 

"  Do  you  think  if  the  President's  recommendation  were 
adopted  it  would  increase  our  export  trade?  " 

"  Possibly  in  some  few  articles  of  peculiar  construction  it 
might,  but  it  would  increase  our  import  trade  tenfold  as 
much  in  the  great  staple  fabrics,  in  woolen  and  cotton 


92  Blame's  Views  of  the  Message. 

goods,  in  iron,  in  steel,  in  all  the  thousand  and  one  shapes 
in  which  they  are  -wrought.  How  are  we  to  export  staple 
fabrics  to  the  markets  of  Europe  unless  we  make  them 
cheaper  than  they  do  in  Europe,  and  ho^v  are  we  to  manu- 
facture them  cheaper  than  they  do  in  Europe  unless  we  get 
cheaper  labor  than  they  have  in  Europe?" 

"  Then  you  think  that  the  question  of  labor  underlies  the 
whole  subject?" 

"Of  course  it  does,"  replied  Mr.  Elaine.  "It  is,  in  fact, 
the  entire  question.  Whenever  we  can  force  carpenters, 
masons,  iron- workers,  and  mechanics  in  every  department 
to  work  as  cheaply  and  live  as  poorly  in  the  United  States 
as  similar  workmen  in  Europe,  we  can,  of  course,  manu- 
facture just  as  cheaply  as  they  do  in  England  and  France. 
But  I  am  totally  opposed  to  a  policy  that  would  entail  such 
results.  To  attempt  it  is  equivalent  to  a  social  and  financial 
revolution,  one  that  would  bring  untold  distress." 

"  Yes,  but  might  not  the  great  farming  class  be  benefited 
by  importing  articles  from  Europe  instead  of  buying  them 
at  higher  prices  at  home?  " 

"The  moment,"  answered  Mr.  Blaine,  "you  begin  to 
import  freely  from  Europe  you  drive  our  own  workmen 
from  mechanical  and  manufacturing  pursuits.  In  the  same 
proportion  they  become  tillers  of  the  soil,  increasing  steadily 
the  agricultural  product  and  decreasing  steadily  the  large 
home  demand  which  is  constantly  enlarging  as  home  manu- 
factures enlarga  That,  of  course,  works  great  injury  to  the 
fanner,  glutting  the  market  with  his  products  and  tending 
constantly  to  lower  the  prices." 

"  Yes,  but  the  foreign  demand  for  farm  products  would 
be  increased  in  like  ratio,  would  it  not?  " 

"Even  suppose  it  were,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "how  do  you 
know  the  source  from  which  it  will  bo  supplied.  The  ten- 


Slaines  Views  of  the  Iff stage  93 

dency  in  Russia  to-day  and  in  the  Asiatic  possessions  of 
England  IB  towards  a  large  increase  of  the  grain  supply,  the 
grain  being  raised  by  the  cheapest  possible  labor.  Manu- 
facturing countries  will  buy  their  breadstuffs  where  they 
can  get  them  cheapest,  and  the  enlarging  of  the  home  mar- 
ket for  the  American  farmer  being  checked,  he  would  search 
in  vain  for  one  of  the  same  value.  His  foreign  sales  are 
already  checked  by  the  great  competition  abroad.  There 
never  was  a  time  when  the  increase  of  a  large  home  market 
was  so  valuable  to  him.  The  best  proof  is  that  the  farmers 
are  prosperous  in  proportion  to  the  nearness  of  manufactur- 
ing centres,  and  a  protective  tariff  tends  to  spread  manu- 
factures. In  Ohio  and  Indiana,  for  example,  though  not 
classed  as  manufacturing  states,  the  annual  value  of  fabrics 
is  larger  than  the  annual  value  of  agricultural  products." 

"  But  those  holding  the  President's  views,"  remarked  the 
reporter,  "are  always  quoting  the  great  prosperity  of  the 
country  under  the  tariff  of  1846." 

"That  tariff  did  not  involve  the  one  destructive  point 
recommended  by  the  President,  namely,  the  retaining  of 
direct  internal  taxes  in  order  to  abolish  indirect  taxes  levied 
on  foreign  fabrics.  But  the  country  had  peculiar  advan- 
tages under  it  by  the  Crimean  war  involving  England, 
France,  and  Russia,  and  largely  impairing  their  trade.  All 
these  incidents,  or  accidents,  if  you  choose,  were  immensely 
stimulating  to  trade  in  the  United  States,  regardless  of  the 
nature  of  our  tariff.  But  mark  the  end  of  this  European 
experience  with  the  tariff  of  1846,  which  for  a  time  gave  an 
illusory  and  deceptive  show  of  prosperity.  Its  enactment 
was  immediately  followed  by  the  Mexican  war;  then  in 
1848  by  the  great  convulsions  in  Europe ;  then  in  1849  and 
succeeding  years  by  the  enormous  gold  yield  in  California. 
The  Powers  made  peace  in  1856,  and  at  the  same  time  the 


94  BlainJs  Visws  of  the  Message. 

output  of  gold  in  California  fell  off.  Immediately  the 
financial  panic  of  1857  came  upon  the  country  with  dis- 
astrous force.  Though  we  had  in  these  years  mined  a  vast 
amount  of  gold  in  California,  every  bank  in  New  York 
was  compelled  to  suspend  specie  payment  Four  hundred 
millions  in  gold  had  been  carried  out  of  the  country  in 
eight  years  to  pay  for  foreign  goods  that  should  have  been 
manufactured  at  home,  and  we  had  years  of  depression  and 
distress  as  an  atonement  for  our  folly. 

"  It  is  remarkable  that  President  Polk  recommended  the 
tariff  of  1846  on  precisely  the  same  ground  that  President 
Cleveland  recommends  a  similar  enactment  now,  namely, 
the  surplus  in  the  Treasury  was  menacing  the  prosperity  of 
the  country.  History  is  repeating  itself.  By  the  way," 
Mr.  Elaine  added,  after  a  moment's  reflection,  "it  is  worth 
notice  that  Mr.  Polk  insisted  on  emptying  the  Treasury  by 
a  free-trade  tariff,  then  immediately  rushed  the  country 
into  debt  by  borrowing  $150,000,000  for  the  Mexican  war. 
I  trust  nothing  may  occur  to  repeat  so  disastrous  a  sequel 
to  the  policy  recommended  by  President  Cleveland.  But 
the  uniform  fate  has  been  for  fifty  years  past  that  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  when  it  goes  out  of  power,  always  leaves  an 
empty  Treasury,  and  when  it  returns  to  power  always  finds 
a  full  Treasury." 

"  Then  do  you  mean  to  imply  that  there  should  be  no 
reduction  of  the  national  revenue  ?  " 

"No,  what  I  have  said  implies  the  reverse.  I  would 
reduce  it  by  a  prompt  repeal  of  the  tobacco  tax,  and  would 
make  here  and  there  some  changes  in  the  tariff  not  to  reduce 
protection,  but  wisely  foster  it." 

"Would  you  explain  your  meaning  more  fully?" 

"I  mean,"  said  Mr.  Elaine,  "that  no  great  system  of 
tevenue  like  our  tariff  can  operate  with  efficiency  and  equity 


Elaine  s  Views  of  the  Message.  95 

unless  the  changes  of  trade  be  closely  watched  and  the  law 
promptly  adapted  to  those  changes.  But  I  would  make  no 
change  that  should  impair  the  protective  character  of  the 
whole  body  of  the  tariff  lawa  Four  years  ago,  in  the  Act 
of  1883,  we  made  changes  of  the  character  I  have  tried  to 
indicate.  If  such  changes  were  made,  and  the  fortifying  of 
our  sea-coast  thus  undertaken  at  a  very  moderate  annual 
outlay,  no  surplus  would  be  found  after  that  already  accu- 
mulated had  been  disposed  of.  The  outlay  of  money  on 
fortifications,  while  doing  great  service  to  the  country, 
would  give  good  work  to  many  men." 

"But  what  about  the  existing  surplus? n 

"  The  abstract  of  the  message  I  have  seen,"  replied  Mr. 
Blaine,  "  contains  no  reference  to  that  point  I,  therefore, 
make  no  comment  further  than  to  indorse  Mr.  Fred  Grant's 
remark  that  a  surplus  is  always  easier  to  handle  than  a 
deficit." 

The  reporter  repeated  the  question  whether  the  Presi- 
dent's recommendation  would  not,  if  adopted,  give  us  the 
advantage  of  a  large  increase  in  exports. 

"  I  only  repeat,"  answered  Mr.  Blaine,  "  that  it  would 
vastly  enlarge  our  imports,  while  the  only  export  it  would 
seriously  increase  would  be  our  gold  and  silver.  That 
would  flow  out  bounteously,  just  as  it  did  under  the  tariff 
of  1846.  The  President's  recommendation  enacted  into 
law  would  result  as  did  an  experiment  in  drainage,  of  a  man 
who  wished  to  turn  a  swamp  into  a  productive  field.  He 
dug  a  drain  to  a  neighboring  river,  but  it  happened  unfor- 
tunately, that  the  level  of  the  river  was -higher  than  the 
level  of  the  swamp.  The  consequence  need  not  be  told. 
A  parallel  would  be  found  when  the  President's  policy  in 
attempting  to  oj>en  a  channel  for  an  increase  of  exports 


g(>  Bhines  Views  of  the  Message. 

should  simplj  succeed  in  making  way  for  a  deluging  inflow 
of  fabrics  to  the  destruction  of  home  industry." 

"  But  don't  you  think  it  important  to  increase  our  export 
trade?" 

"  Undoubtedly ;  but  it  is  vastly  more  important  not  to  lose 
our  own  great  market  for  our  own  people  in  the  vain  effort 
to  reach  the  impossible.  It  is  not  our  foreign  trade  that  has 
caused  the  wonderful  growth  and  expansion  of  the  republic. 
It  ia  the  vast  domestic  trade  between  thirty-eight  states  and 
eight  territories,  with  their  population  of,  perhaps,  62,000,000 
to-day.  The  whole  amount  of  our  export  and  import  trade 
together  has  never,  I  think,  reached  $1,900,000,000  anyone 
year.  Our  internal  home  trade  on  130,000  miles  of  railway, 
along  15,000  miles  of  ocean  coast,  over  the  five  great  lakes, 
and  along  20,000  miles  of  navigable  rivers,  reaches  the 
enormous  annual  aggregate  of  more  than  $40,000,000,000, 
and  perhaps  this  year  $50,000,000,000. 

"  It  is  into  this  illimitable  trade,  even  now  in  its  infancy, 
and  destined  to  attain  a  magnitude  not  dreamed  of  twenty 
years  ago,  that  the  Europeans  are  struggling  to  enter.  It  is 
the  heritage  of  the  American  people,  of  their  children,  and 
of  their  children's  children.  Il  gives  an  absolutely  free 
trade  over  a  territory  nearly  as  large  as  all  Europe,  and  the 
profit  is  all  our  own.  The  genuine  free-trader  appears 
unable  to  see  or  comprehend  that  this  continental  trade — 
not  our  exchanges  with  Europe — is  the  great  source  of  our 
prosperity.  President  Cleveland  now  plainly  proposes  a 
policy  that  will  admit  Europe  to  a  share  of  thia  trade." 

"  But  you  are  in  favor  of  extending  our  foreign  trade,  are 
you  not?" 

"  Certainly  I  am,  in  all  practical  and  advantageous  ways, 
but  not  on  the  principle  of  the  free-traders,  by  which  we 
shall  be  constantly  exchanging  dollar  for  dime,  Moreover, 


Elaine  3  Views  qf  the  Message.  97 

the  foreign  trade  is  often  very  delusive.  Cotton  is  manu- 
factured in  the  city  of  my  residence.  If  a  box  of  cottoft 
goods  is  sent  two  hundred  miles  to  the  province  of  New 
Brunswick,  it  is  foreign  trade.  If  shipped  seventeen  thous- 
and miles  around  Cape  Horn  to  Washington  Territory  it  13 
domestic  trade.  The  magnitude  of  the  Union  and  the 
immensity  of  its  internal  trade  require  a  new  political 
economy.  The  treatises  written  for  European  states  do  not 
grasp  our  peculiar  situation." 

"How  will  the  President's  message  be  taken  in  the 
South?" 

"  I  don't  dare  to  answer  that  question.  The  truth  has 
been  so  long  obscured  by  certain  local  questions  of  unreas- 
oning prejudice  that  nobody  can  hope  for  industrial  enlight- 
enment among  their  leaders  just  yet.  But  in  my  view  the 
South  above  all  sections  of  the  Union  needs  a  protective 
tariff.  The  two  Virginias,  North  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Mis- 
souri, Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Georgia  have  enormous 
resources  and  facilities  for  developing  and  handling  manu- 
factures. They  cannot  do  anything  without  protection. 
Even  progress  so  vast  as  some  of  those  states  have  made 
will  be  checked  if  the  President's  message  is  enacted  into 
law.  Their  senators  and  representatives  can  prevent  it,  but 
they  are  so  used  to  following  anything  labelled  'Demo- 
cratic '  that  very  probably  they  will  follow  the  President 
and  blight  the  progress  already  made.  By  the  time  some  of 
the  Southern  States  get  free  iron  ore  and  coal,  while  tobacco 
is  taxed,  they  may  have  occasion  to  sit  down  and  calculate 
the  value  of  Democratic  free-trade  to  their  local  interests." 

"  Will  not  the  President's  recommendation  to  admit  raw 
material  find  strong  support?  " 

"  Not  by  wise  protectionists  in  our  tima  Perhaps  some 
greedy  manufacturers  may  think  that  with  free  coal  or  free 


98  BlainJs  Views  of  the  Message. 

iron  ore  they  can  do  great  things,  but  if  they  should 
succeed  in  trying  they  will,  as  the  boys  say,  catch  it  on  the 
rebound.  If  the  home  trade  in  raw  material  is  destroyed  or 
seriously  injured  railroads  will  be  the  first  to  feel  it  II 
that  vast  interest  is  crippled  in  any  direction  the  financial 
fabric  of  the  whole  country  will  feel  it  quickly  and  seri- 
ously. If  any  man  can  give  a  reason  why  we  should 
arrange  the  tariff  to  favor  the  raw  material  of  other  coun- 
tries in  a  competition  against  our  material  of  the  same  kind,  I 
should  like  to  hear  it  Should  that  recommendation  of  the 
President  be  approved  it  would  turn  one  hundred  thousand 
American  laborers  out  of  employment  before  it  had  been  a 
year  in  operation." 

"What  must  be  the  marked  and  general  effect  of  the 
President's  message?" 

"  It  will  bring  the  country  where  it  ought  to  be  brought 
— to  a  full  and  fair  contest  on  the  question  of  protection. 
The  President  himself  makes  it  the  one  issue  by  presenting 
no  other  in  his  message.  I  think  it  well  to  have  the  ques- 
tion settled.  The  Democratic  party  in  power  is  a  standing 
menace  to  the  industrial  prosperity  of  the  country.  That 
menace  should  be  removed  or  the  policy  it  foreshadows 
should  be  made  certain.  Nothing  is  so  mischievous  to  bus- 
iness as  uncertainty^  nothing  so  paralyzing  as  doubt." 


VIEWS  ON  THE  TARIFF. 

• 
HON.  WILLIAM  McKINLEY,  JR. 

OF  OHIO. 

[From  hit  tpeeeh  in  Home  of  Ibpretentatiixi,  May  IB,  1S88.} 


The  Home  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of 
the  Union,  and  having  under  consideration  the  bill  (H.  R.  9051)  to 
reduce  taxation  and  simplify  the  laws  in  relation  to  the  collection  of  the 
revenue  —  Mr.  McKinley  said  : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  :  Our  country  is  in  an  anomalous  situa- 
tion. There  is  nothing  resembling  it  anywhere  else  in  the 
world.  While  we  are  seeking  to  find  objects  to  relieve 
from  taxation,  in  order  that  we  may  relieve  an  overflowing 
Treasury,  other  nations  are  engaged  in  exploring  the  field 
of  human  production  to  find  new  objects  of  taxation  to 
supply  their  insufficient  revenues.  In  considering  the  situ- 
ation that  thus  confronts  us,  and  the  bill  that  is  presented 
here  as  intended  to  relieve  it,  it  ia  well  that  we  should 
understand  at  the  beginning  the  things  upon  which  all  are 
agreed. 

They  are,  first,  that  we  are  collecting  more  money  than  is 
required  for  the  current  needs  of  the  Government;  and 

00 


100  McKinley's  Views  an  the  Tariff. 

second,  that  the  excess,  whatever  it  may  be,  beyc*id  the 
wants  of  the  Government  should  be  left  with  the  people. 
Our  contention,  therefore,  is  upon  the  manner  of  the  reduc- 
tion and  not  upon  the  reduction  itself  ;  not  that  no  reduction 
shall  or  ought  to  be  made,  but  how  and  upon  what  principle 
can  it  best  be  accomplished.  We  agree,  further,  that  the 
tax  upon  tobacco  shall  be  removed  and  thus  leave  with  the 
people  $30,000,000  which  they  annually  pay  upon  this 
domestic  product.  Were  we  men  of  business,  governed  by 
the  principles  which  guide  practical  men  of  affairs,  this 
burden  would  have  been  and  could  have  been  removed  any 
time  within  the  past  two  years,  and  if  removed  two  years 
ago  no  surplus  would  now  vex  the  Administration  or  alarm 
the  business  of  the  country.  In  passing,  it  is  suitable  that 
I  should  say  that  within  the  period  named  no  hindrance 
from  this  side  of  the  House  would  have  been  interposed  to 
the  abolition  of  this  tax. 

But  this  tax  was  not  abolished,  and  if  done  now  still 
leaves  about  forty  millions  of  revenue  collected  in  excess 
of  the  public  necessity.  How  can  this  amount  be  remitted 
with  the  least  disturbance  to  the  business  and  employments 
of  the  people? 

THE  BILL  WILL  NOT  REDUCE  THE  REVENUE. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  this  is  a  bill  ostensibly  to  reduce  the 
revenue.  It  will  not  do  it  Take  from  this  bill  its  internal - 
revenue  features,  its  reduction  of  twenty  four  and  a  half 
million  dollars  from  tobacco  and  from  special  licenses  to 
dealers  in  spirits  and  tobacco;  eliminate  these  from  the  bill 
and  you  will  not  secure  a  dollar  of  reduction  to  the  Treas- 
ury under  its  operation.  Your  $27,000,000  of  proposed 
reduction  by  the  free-list  will  be  more  than  offset  by  the 


McKinlnj*  Views  on  the  Tan/.  101 

increased  revenue  which  shall  come  from  your  lower  duties ; 
and  I  venture  the  prediction  here  to-day  that  if  this  bill 
should  become  a  law,  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1889  the 
dutiable  list  under  it  will  carry  more  money  into  the  Treas- 
ury than  is  carried  into  the  Treasury  under  the  present  law ; 
because  with  every  reduction  of  duties  upon  foreign  imports 
you  stimulate  and  increase  foreign  importations ;  and  to  the 
extent  that  you  increase  foreign  importations,  to  that  extent 
you  increase  the  revenue. 

Now  here  is  a  single  item,  steel  billets.  The  present  duty 
on  steel  billets  is  45  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  In  this  bill  it  is 
increased  to  $11  per  ton,  which  is  equivalent  to  68.83  per 
cent —  an  advance  of  45  per  cent  Do  you  know  what  is 
made  out  of  these  steel  billets?  Wire  fencing,  which 
incloses  the  great  fields  of  the  West ;  and  the  raw  material 
is  increased  45  per  cent  by  this  bill ;  and  if  the  principle  of 
the  gentlemen  who  advocate  the  bill  be  true,  that  the  duty 
is  added  to  the  cost,  every  pound  of  wire  fencing  that  goes 
to  the  West  will  be  increased  from  one-quarter  to  one-half 
cent  a  pound ;  all  this  under  a  Democratic  bill.  What  else 
is  made  out  of  steel  billets?  Nails,  which  everybody  uses, 
which  enter  into  the  every-day  uses  of  the  people.  The 
duty  upon  nails  is  reduced  25  per  cent,  and  the  raw  mate- 
rial is  increased  45  per  cent  As  a  friend  near  me  suggests, 
when  one  end  goes  up  the  other  goes  down ;  and  the  latter, 
I  trust,  will  be  the  fate  of  this  bilL 

Why,  sir,  the  duty  on  wire  fencing  is  only  45  per  cent  ad 
valorem;  yet  the  billet  from  which  wire  fencing  is  made 
must  pay  in  this  bill  63  per  cent  Here  [illustrating]  is  a 
piece  of  wire  rod  drawn  from  these  steel  billets  and  which 
finally  goes  into  fencing.  That  is  dutiable  at  45  per  cent 
under  this  bill ;  and  the  steel  from  which  it  is  made  is  duti- 


102  McKMw/s  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

able  at  63  per  cent  What  do  you  think  of  "  raw  material M 
for  manufacturers?  No  account  is  here  taken  of  the  labor 
required  to  draw  th«  rods. 

But,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  is  not  all  which  is  remarkable 
about  this  bill,  this  great  bill  which  is  based  upon  principle, 
it  is  said,  which  the  President  stands  behind  and  beneath, 
and  which  he  insists  shall  be  passed,  whether  or  no,  in  this 
House,  and  for  the  passage  of  which  he  is  dispensing  official 
favors;  for,  as  the  Post,  of  this  city,  says,  "there  is  an 
Allentown  for  every  SOWDEN." 

What  else?  Here,  for  example,  are  cotton-ties,  which 
present  another  queer  freak  in  this  bill  Everybody  knows 
what  cotton-ties  are;  they  are  hoop-iron  cut  into  lengths 
just  large  enough  to  go  round  a  bale  of  cotton.  Now,  if 
the  Southern  cotton-planter  wants  some  of  this  hoop-iron 
with  which  to  bale  his  cotton  he  goes  to  the  custom-house 
at  New  York  or  Charleston  and  cuts  off  all  he  wants ;  and 
he  does  not  have  to  pay  a  cent  of  duty ;  but  if  the  farmer- 
constituent  of  my  friend  who  sits  before  me  [Mr.  Nelson], 
or  your  farmer-constituent,  want  some  hoop-iron  of  precisely 
the  same  width  and  thickness  and  goes  to  the  custom-house 
to  get  it  the  Government  makes  it  pay  one  cent  and  a  half 
of  duty  upon  every  pound  he  takes,  while  it  lets  the  cotton- 
planter  take  his  for  nothing.  If  the  Western  farmer  wants 
it  for  his  bucket  or  his  barrel  or  to  go  on  his  wagon-bed,  or 
if  the  washer-woman  wants  it  for  her  washtub,  every  one  of 
these  must  pay  a  cent  and  a  half  a  pound,  under  the  philos- 
ophy of  the  gentleman  who  framed  this  bill,  while  the 
cotton-planter  gets  his  absolutely  free  of  duty. 

Gentlemen,  is  that  fair?  I  appeal  to  Southern  men 
who  sit  before  me ;  I  appeal  to  Northern  Democrats  who  sit 
around  •»*>;  is  that  fair  upon  any  principle  of  justice  or  fair 


JfcKinky's  Views  on  tiie  Tariff.  103 

play?  Talk  about  sectionalism!  You  raise  the  question 
in  your  bill ;  you  make  a  sectional  issue  which  I  deeply 
regret,  and  I  am  sure  you  must  upon  serious  reflection. 

There  are  some  other  features  in  this  bill  which  are  a 
little  singular.  The  proposed  duty  on  white  lead  is  2  cents 
a  pound,  while  orange  mineral,  which  is  made  from  white 
lead,  is  reduced  to  one  cent  and  a  half  a  pound.  That  is 
another  case  of  high  duty  upon  raw  material  and  low  duty 
upon  the  finished  product. 

Why,  what  in  the  world,  Mr.  Chairman,  has  this  bill  done 
for  the  people  anyhow?  What  has  it  done  for  the  farmer? 
It  has  taken  the  duty  practically  off  of  everything  he  grows. 
I  will  not  stop  to  give  the  items.  It  makes  free,  practically, 
every  product  of  the  farm,  the  forest,  and  mine. 

It  takes  the  duty  off  of  wool  What  does  it  give  the 
grower  in  return  ?  Does  it  give  him  anything  free  ?  Every- 
thing he  buys  is  dutiable.  The  coat  he  wears,  the  hat 
that  covers  kis  head,  his  shoes,  his  stockings,  his  sugar,  his 
rice,  everything  bears  a  duty,  and  substantially  everything 
he  raises  put  on  the  free-list 

The  duty  on  wool  must  go.  What  has  this  Democratic 
party  given  the  agriculturists  in  return  for  this  slaughter  of 
their  interests  ?  I  have  looked  this  bill  up  and  down,  and 
I  will  tell  you  what  they  have  done  for  the  farmer.  They 
have  given  him  free  sheep-dip.  Sheep-dip  is  made  free  and 
the  duty  is  released.  My  distinguished  friend  from  Vir- 
ginia [Mr.  Lee],  who  honors  me  with  his  presence  here, 
knows  what  this  article  is.  It  is  a  preparation  which  is 
used  on  sheep.  It  is  made  up  largely  of  the  stems  of 
tobacco.  It -has  got  a  little  sulphur  in  it,  I  believe;  it  has 
got  a  little  lime  in  it  They  put  that  on  the  free-list,  and 
that  is  all  they  do  for  the  farmer 


104  McKinley's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

Mr.  Hopkins,  of  Illinois:  What  good  is  that  to  the 
farmer  after  they  have  destroyed  his  flocks? 

Mr.  McKinley:  None.  They  leave  the  shears  he  clips 
his  wool  with  at  45  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  They  make  his 
wool  free  and  make  the  farmer  pay  45  per  cent  for  the 
shears  with  which  he  clips  his  wool 

But  that  is  not  all.  The  bell,  the  sheep  bell — if  my 
friend  from  Massachusetts  [Mr.  Eussell]  is  here,  if  that 
golden-shod  shepherd  from  Worcester  is  here,  he  will  under- 
stand. It  is  the  bell  that  is  put  around  the  neck  of  the 
sheep  to  admonish  the  shepherd  of  the  whereabouts  of  the 
wandering  flock  under  his  charge.  I  am  told  that  gentle- 
man has  got  on  the  outside.  I  learn  now  he  is  here  in  his 
seat ;  I  am  glad  to  see  him.  He  knows  what  I  am  talking 
about, 

NO  PUBLIC  DEMAND  FOR  SUCH  A  MEASURE. 

This  measure  is  not  called  for  by  the  people;  it  is  not  an 
American  measure;  it  is  inspired  by  importers  and  foreign 
producers,  most  of  them  aliens,  who  want  to  diminish  our 
trade  and  increase  their  own ;  who  want  to  decrease  our 
prosperity  and  augment  theirs,  and  who  have  no  interest  in 
this  country  except  what  they  can  make  out  of  it  To  this 
is  added  the  influence  of  the  professors  in  some  of  our  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  who  teach  the  science  contained  in  books 
and  not  that  of  practical  business.  I  would  rather  have  my 
political  economy  founded  upon  the  every-day  experience 
of  the  puddler  or  the  potter  than  the  learning  of  the  pro- 
fessor, the  farmer  and  factory  hand  than  the  college  faculty. 
Then  there  is  another  class  who  want  protective  tariffs  over- 
thrown. They  are  the  men  of  independent  wealth,  with 
settled  and  steady  incomes,  who  want  everything  cheap  but 


McKinley's   Views  on  tie  Turffi  105 

currency;  tlie  value  of  everything  clipped  but  coin  —  cheap 
labor  but  dear  money.  These  are  the  element  which  are 
arrayed  against  us. 

Men  whose  capital  is  invested  in  productive  enterprises, 
who  take  the  risks  of  business,  men  who  expend  their  capi- 
tal and  energy  in  the  development  of  our  resources,  they 
are  in  favor  of  the  maintenance  of  the  protective  system. 
The, farmer,  the  rice-grower,  the  miner,  the  vast  army  of 
wage-earners  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  the 
chief  producers  of  wealth,  men  whose  capital  is  their  brain 
and  muscle,  who  aspire  to  better  their  condition  and  elevate 
themselves  and  their  fellows ;  the  young  man  whose  future 
is  yet  before  him,  and  which  he  must  carve  out  with  his 
hand  and  head,  who  is  without  the  aid  of  fortune  or  of  a 
long  ancestral  line,  these  are  our  steadfast  allies  in  this  great 
contest  for  the  preservation  of  the  American  system. 
Experience  and  results  in  our  own  country  are  our  best 
advisers,  and  they  vindicate  beyond  the  possibility  of  dis- 
pute the  worth  and  wisdom  of  the  system. 

What  country  can  show  such  a  trade  as  ours,  such  com- 
merce, such  immense  transportation  lines,  such  a  volume  of 
exchanges,  and  such  marvelous  production  from  the  raw 
material  to  the  finished  product  Its  balance-sheet  is  with- 
out a  parallel  in  the  world's  history — richest  in  agriculture, 
greatest  in  its  domestic  trade  and  traffic,  and  leading  in 
manufactures  any  nation  in  Europe.  Why  abandon  a  policy 
which  can  point  to  such  achievements  and  whose  trophies 
are  to  be  seen  on  every  hand  ?  The  internal  commerce  of 
the  United  States  is  greater  than  the  entire  foreign  com- 
merce of  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Russia,  Holland, 
Belgium,  and  Austria-Hungary.  Why,  a  single  railroad 
system  in  this  country  (that  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 


106  AfcKinley's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

Company)  carries  more  tonnage  and  traffic  in  a  single  year 
than  all  the  merchant  ships  of  Great  Britain.  The  whole  of 
Europe  has  not  built  as  many  miles  of  railroad  as  this  coun- 
try has  during  some  recent  years,  and  in  1880  the  whole 
known  world  did  not  lay  as  many  miles  of  track  as  were 
laid  across  this  country.  Great  Britain's  foreign  commerce 
equals  about  one-sixth  of  our  domestic  commerce.  Can  we 
do  better  under  any  other  fiscal  policy?  We  say  not. 
Wise  statesmanship  commands  us,  therefore,  to  let  well 
enough  alone. 

Sir  Edward  Sullivan,  in  a  recent  article  in  the  London 
Post,  makes  these  suggestive  comparisons,  which  I  beg  every 
gentleman  to  hear : 

Under  free-trade  the  masses  must  get  poorer,  because  they  get  less 
employment.  A  well-known  statistical  work  gives  a  comparison  of  the 
material  progress  of  France  under  protection  and  England  under  free- 
trade.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  figures  it  ought  to  startle  us  from  our 
free-trade  dream. 

The  comparison  is  based  on  the  returns  of  legacy  duty: 

In  1826  England  was  10s.  a  head  richer  than  France. 

In  1850  England  was  19s.  a  head  richer  than  France. 

In  1877  England  was  5s.  a  head  poorer  than  France. 

France  has  57  per  cent,  of  her  land  under  tillage,  and  it  IB  Increasing 
every  year. 

The  United  Kingdom  has  30  per  cent,  of  her  land  under  tillage,  and 
it  is  diminishing  every  year,  but  the  population  of  England  increases 
much  more  rapidly  than  the  population  of  France. 

The  commerce  of  England  has  increased  21  per  cent.  In  ten  years. 

The  commerce  of  France  has  increased  89  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States  has  increased  68  per  cent,  in  ten 
years. 

The  commerce  of  the  world  has  increased  26  per  cent.  In  ten  yearg. 

So  much  for  the  blasting  effect  of  free-trade. 


McKinlqf*  Views  on  tins  Tariff:  107 

In  Germany,  so  long  ago  as  the  14th  of  May,  1882,  Bis- 
murk,  in  a  speech  before  the  German  Reichstag,  paid  to  the 
Republican  tariff  high  eulogy.  He  said : 

The  success  of  the  United  States  in  material  development  is  the  most 
illustrious  of  modern  time.  The  American  nation  lias  not  onlj  success- 
fully borne  and  suppressed  the  most  gigantic  and  expensive  war  of  all 
history,  but  immediately  afterward  disbanded  its  Army,  found  employ- 
ment for  all  its  soldiers  and  marines,  paid  off  most  of  its  debt,  given 
labor  and  homes  to  all  the  unemployed  of  Europe  as  fast  as  they  could 
arrive  within  its  territory,  and  still  by  a  system  of  taxation  so  indirect 
us  not  to  be  perceived,  much  less  felt.  Because  it  is  my  deliberate  judg- 
ment that  the  prosperity  of  America  is  mainly  due  to  its  system  of 
protective  laws,  I  urge  that  Germany  has  now  reached  that  point  where 
it  is  necessary  to  imitate  the  tariff  system  of  ta«  United  States. 

A  HOME  MARKET. 

Why,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  establishment  of  a  furnace  or 
factory  or  mill  in  any  neighborhood,  has  the  effect  at  once 
to  enhance  the  value  of  all  property  and  all  values  for  miles 
surrounding  it  They  produce  increased  activity.  The 
farmer  has  a  better  and  a  nearer  market  for  his  products. 
The  merchant,  the  butcher,  the  grocer,  have  an  increased 
trade.  The  carpenter  is  in  greater  demand;  he  is  called 
upon  to  build  more  houses.  Every  branch  of  trade,  every 
avenue  of  labor,  will  feel  almost  immediately  the  energizing 
influence  of  a  new  industry.  The  truck  farm  is  in  demand; 
the  perishable  products,  the  fruits,  the  vegetables,  which  in 
many  cases  will  not  bear  exportation,  and  which  a  foreign 
market  is  too  distant  to  be  available,  find  a  constant  and 
ready  demand  at  good  paying  prices. 

What  the  agriculturist  of  this  country  wants  more  than 
anything  else,  after  he  has  gathered  his  crop,  are  consumers, 
consumers  at  home,  men  who  do  not  produce  what  they  eat, 
who  must  purchase  all  they  consume;  men  who  are 


108  McEmfafs  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

engaged  in  manufacturing,  in  mining,  in  cotton-spinning,  in 
the  potteries,  and  in  the  thousands  of  productive  industrks 
which  command  all  their  time  and  energy,  and  whose  em- 
ployments do  not  admit  of  their  producing  their  own  food. 

The  American  agriculturist  further  wants  these  consum- 
ers near  and  convenient  to  his  field  of  supply.  Cheap  as 
inland  transportation  is,  every  mile  saved  is  money  made. 
Every  manufacturing  establishment  in  the  United  States, 
wherever  situated,  is  of  priceless  value  to  the  farmers  of  the 
country.  The  six  manufacturing  States  of  New  England 
aptly  illustrate  the  great  value  of  a  home  market  to  the 
Western  farmer.  These  States  have  reached  the  highest 
perfection  in  skill  and  manufactures.  They  do  not  raise 
from  their  own  soil,  with  the  exceptions  of  hay  and  pota- 
toes, but  a  small  fraction  of  what  their  inhabitants  require 
and  consume ;  they  could  not  from  their  own  fields  and 
granaries  feed  the  population  which  they  had  in  1830,  much 
less  their  present  population.  The  most  intense  revenue- 
reformer,  the  most  unenlightened  Democrat,  will  have  to 
confess  that  New  England  is  indebted  in  large  part  for  her 
splendid  development  to  the  protective  system.  Now,  has 
her  prosperity  and  progress  been  secured  at  the  sacrifice  of 
other  interests  and  other  sections  V  I  answer  no ;  but  has 
brought,  as  I  believe  I  shall  be  able  to  show,  a  positive 
blessing  to  all  of  our  60,000,000  of  people. 

In  1880  the  population  of  these  six  States  was  over 
4,000,000.  The  food  products  required  by  their  people,  the 
very  necessities  of  their  daily  life  in  a  large  measure,  came 
from  other  States  and  remote  sections  of  the  Union.  They 
raised  in  1880  but  one-quarter  of  1  per  cent,  of  the  total 
wheat  production  of  the  United  States.  They  raised  in  the 
same  year  but  one-half  of  1  per  cent  of  the  total  crop  of 


McKinfa/8  Views  on  the  Tariff.  109 

Indian  corn,  2£  per  cent  of  the  oats,  12  per  cent  of  the 
hay,  and  13  per  cent  of  the  potatoes  which  were  produced 
in  the  United  States,  What  did  they  consume?  What  did 
they  buy  of  the  Western  farmer  ?  Fifty  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  meat  were  consumed  by  their  industrial  people  in 
a  single  year.  The  extent  of  their  needs  is  strikingly 
shown  by  the  fact  (obtained  from  the  accounts  of  Commis- 
sioner Fink),  that  during  the  year  1884  "  the  trunk  lines " 
brought  into  New  England  no  less  than  470,000  tons  of  flour 
and  950,000  tons  of  grain.  At  200  pounds  to  the  barrel  of 
flour,  this  is  an  importation  of  4,700,000  barrels,  or  one  and 
one-fifth,  nearly,  for  each  inhabitant  During  the  same 
year  there  were  exported  from  Boston  and  Portland,  the 
only  points  in  New  England  from  which  breadstuff  are 
sent  abroad,  2,100,000  barrels  of  flour,  leaving  for  consump- 
tion within  these  States  2,600,000  barrels.  These  figures 
take  no  account  of  the  large  trade  by  water  from  New  York. 
I  am  informed  that  a  large  part  of  the  flour  consumed  in 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  Southern  Massachusetts  is 
received  in  this  way,  but  no  reliable  statistics  are  available. 
It  is  reasonable,  however,  to  suppose,  and  this  comes  to  me 
from  what  I  deem  good  authority,  that  the  amount  thus 
received  and  consumed  offsets  a  large  portion  of  the  foreign 
exports  to  which  I  have  referred, 

Of  the  grain  received  during  the  same  year  rather  less 
than  400,000  tons  were  exported,  leaving  for  New  England 
consumption  660,000  tons,  for  all  of  which  these  States 
were  the  customers  of  the  West  in  addition  to  the  amount 
grown  upon  their  own  soil.  In  addition  to  this,  New  Eng- 
land consumed,  in  1886-87  in  her  factories  nearly  one-fourth 
of  the  entire  cotton  crop  of  the  country.  More  than  this, 
she  used  in  her  woolen  mills  in  1880  fully  one-half  of  the 


110  McKinlqfs  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

entire  wool  clip  of  the  United  States,  and  during  the  year 
1886  she  consumed  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  entire 
anthracite-coal  production  of  the  country,  and  5£  per  cent 
of  the  bituminous-coal  production,  and  every  pound  of  both, 
came  from  the  Middle  and  Southern  States. 

Is  not  New  England  (I  appeal  to  the  gentlemen  of  the 
other  side,  I  appeal  to  the  farmers  of  the  country)  worth 
preserving?  Is  not  the  industrial  system  which  makes 
such  a  community  of  consumers  for  agricultural  products 
possible  worth  maintaining  ?  Does  not  she  furnish  you  a 
market  worth  fostering  ?  Does  not  she  give  you  a  trade  and 
an  exchange  of  products  worth  your  while  to  guard  with 
the  most  considerate  care?  And  does  not  her  condition 
indicate  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  we  advocate  ?  Is  not  her 
market  better  for  you  than  a  foreign  one?  Is  not  New 
England  a  better  customer  for  you,  more  reliable,  more 
easily  reached,  more  stable,  than  Old  England?  Is  not 
Boston  a  better  consumer  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  than  London,  New  York  than  Liverpool,  Pittsburgh 
than  Manchester,  Cincinnati  than  Birmingham? 

New  England  buys  of  you  for  all  her  wants ;  Old  Eng- 
land takes  not  a  pound  or  a  bushel  from  you  except  what 
she  must  have  and  cannot  get  elsewhere. 

Now,  let  us  contrast  this  home  market  of  New  England 
with  the  foreign  market  of  Old  England.  In  1880  New 
England  consumed  640,000,000  pounds  of  cotton,  at  11.61 
a  pound,  which  in  value  then  amounted  to  $62,695,000,  20 
per  cent  greater  than  the  per  capita  value  of  all  our  dames- 
tic  exports  to  the  United  Kingdom,  and  this  was  only  New 
England's  contribution  to  the  Southern  producers  of  cotton. 
She  sends  at  least  $70,000,000  to  the  West  and  Northwest 
for  her  food  supplies.  She  sends  to  the  wool-growers  of  the 


McKinkijs  Views  on  the  Tariff.  Ill 

Middle,  Western,  and  Pacific  States  $40,000,000  annually 
for  their  fleeces.  I  repeat,  is  not  this  market  worth  preserv- 
ing, ay,  cherishing,  and  does  it  not  make  us  long  to  have 
New  England  thrift,  New  England  enterprise,  and  New 
England  politics  more  generally  distributed  throughout  all 
sections  of  the  country  ? 

You  can  destroy  this  valuable  home  market  by  such  legis- 
lation as  is  proposed  in  this  bill;  you  can  diminish  this 
demand  for  food,  for  cotton,  for  wool,  for  flax,  and  hemp 
produced  in  other  sections  of  the  country  by  following  the 
delusive  theories  of  our  friends  on  the  other  side  of  the 
House;  you  can  diminish  the  capacity  of  the  operatives  to 
buy  of  you  by  diminishing  their  wages ;  you  can  drive  them 
from  the  cotton  and  woolen  factories  to  the  .farms;  they 
will  then  drift  to  the  West  and  Northwest,  not  to  engage  in 
manufacture,  but  in  a  great  measure  to  become  tillers  of  the 
soil,  and  instead  of  being  as  they  are  now,  and  as  they  will 
be  under  a  proper  tariff  system,  your  consumers,  they 
become  your  competitors.  They  go  from  the  ranks  of  con- 
sumers to  the  ranks  of  producers ;  diminish  the  consumers 
and  increase  the  producers.  The  foreign  market  for  agri- 
cultural products  is  one  of  the  delusions  of  free-trade.  If 
it  ever  had  any  real  substance  as  against  a  good  home  mar- 
ket that  has  long  since  disappeared. 

The  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  says 
to  the  Western  farmer,  "  Let  New  England  go.  Pass  her  by 
and  go  to  Old  England."  Well,  that  is  about  as  practical 
as  the  Democratic  party  ordinarily  is. 

Mr.  Dunn,  a  prominent  member  of  this  House  and  chair- 
man of  one  of  its  leading  committees,  and  I  remember  to 
have  heard  him  say  what  I  now  read  from  the  Record: 

The  wheat  producer  of  the  Northwest  to  standing  face  to  face  with 
the  wheat  producer  of  India,  A  few  yean  ago  India  shipped  40,000 


112  McKinley's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

bushels  of  wheat.  Last  year  (1885)  she  put  into  the  market  40,000,000 
bushels.  Can  you  protect  the  Northwest  farmer  against  that  labor  ? 
India  can  put  wheat  down  in  the  markets  of  consumption  in  Europe 
cheaper  than  we  can  transport  it  from  the  fields  of  production  to  the 
markets  of  consumption — that  is  to  say,  India  can  produce  and  market 
her  wheat  in  Europe  for  what  it  costs  the  farmer  of  the  Northwest  to 
transport  his  to  the  market  of  consumption,  without  allowing  him  for 
the  cost  of  production.  In  other  words,  the  transportation  of  wheat 
costs  the  American  farmer  as  much  as  both  transportation  and  produc- 
tion cost  the  India  farmer. 

In  the  face  of  a  statement  like  this,  from  such  high 
Democratic  authority,  how,  I  ask,  is  the  wheat  of  the  Amer- 
ican farmer  to  reach  the  European  market  with  any  profit 
to  our  producers  ?  And  yet  it  is  to  this  kind  of  competition 
the  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  invites  the 
American  farmer.  Do  the  farmers  want  such  a  market  with 
such  a  competition  ?  What  their  answer  will  be  no  man 
can  doubt  They  reject  with  indignation  and  scorn 
the  chairman's  invitation.  The  home  market  is  the 
best,  besides  being  the  safest  It  has  got  the  most 
money  to  spend,  and  spends  the  most.  It  consumes  the 
most ;  it  is  therefore  the  most  profitable. 

The  masses  of  our  people  live  better  than  any  people  in 
the  world.  Great  Britain  only  buys  our  food  products  when 
she  has  not  enough  of  her  own  and  can  reach  no  other  sup- 
ply. This  market,  therefore,  is  fitful  and  fluctuating,  and 
cannot  be  relied  upon  as  we  can  rely  upon  our  own  con 
Burners.  The  foreign  market  under  a  revenue  tariff  foi 
agricultural  products  has  not  been  encouraging  in  our  own 
experience  in  the  past  It  promises  less  under  such  a  sys- 
tem in  the  future. 


VIEWS  ON  THE  TARIFF. 

BT 

BON.  JOHN  0.  CARLISLE, 

OP  KENTUCKY. 

[From  hit  Speech  in  At  Houtt  of  Repretentatita,  May  19, 1883.] 


The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of 
the  Union,  and  baring  under  consideration  the  bill  (H.  R.  9051)  to 
reduce  taxation  and  simplify  the  laws  in  relation  to  the  collection  of  the 
revenue  —  Mr.  Carlisle  said: 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  :  I  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  the  gentle- 
man from  Maine  [Mr.  Reed]  in  all  the  arguments  he  has  made 
or  in  all  the  illustrations  he  has  submitted,  for  in  fact  I  was 
unable  to  hear  a  large  part  of  what  he  said.  He  started  of! 
with  the  proposition  that  the  supporters  of  the  pending  bill 
were  either  inconsistent  or  insincere,  or  perhaps  both; 
because,  he  says,  if  the  protection  is  wrong,  the  tariff  for 
revenue  is  also  wrong;  there  is  no  difference  in  principle 
between  them,  the  difference  being  only  in  degree.  The 
gentleman  therefore  argues  that  (he  supporters  of  this  bill 
should  advocate  absolute  free-trade.  I  might  retort  on  the 
gentleman  by  saying  that  if  the  doctrine  of  protection  is 
correct,  that  doctrine  should  be  carried  by  himself  and  his 
friends  to  its  logical  result  —  absolute  prohibition  of  foreign 

118 


Carlisle  s  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

Imports.  But  the  gentleman  himself  has  said  that  it  is  his 
purpose  and  the  purpose  of  his  political  associates  to  pre- 
serve in  this  country  all  its  own  wealth,  even  if  they  are 
compelled  to  erect  a  Chinese  wall  around  it  China  pre- 
served all  the  wealth  of  her  own  people  within  her  limits 
for  thousands  of  years ;  and  I  do  not  think  that  the  advo- 
cates of  diversified  industries  and  the  friends  of  labor  can 
find  much  to  encourage  them  in  the  social  and  commercial 
condition  of  that  country.  There,  protection,  pure  and  sim- 
ple, was  carried  to  its  logical  result  and  produced  its  inev- 
itable effects.  With  the  oldest  civilization  in  the  world, 
with  every  variety  of  soil  and  climate  and  natural  resources, 
with  a  frugal  and  industrious  people,  with  a  literature 
abounding  in  philosophic  thought,  the  useful  arts  of  indus- 
try are  still  in  their  infancy  and  labor  is  the  abject  slave  of 
capital.  We  do  not  wish  another  wall  of  China  here,  nor 
do  we  want  absolute  free-trade.  We  all  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  government  must  have  a  revenue  and  that  that 
revenue  must  be  raised  by  taxation  in  some  form  or  other. 
I  presume  the  gentleman  will  concede  that  all  taxation  is  an 
evil,  which  it  would  be  well  to  avoid  if  possible ;  and  we 
are  reduced  to  a  choice  between  that  system  which  would 
confine  the  trade  of  our  people  to  our  limits  without  increas- 
ing the  revenue  of  the  government  and  the  more  liberal 
system  which  will  make  commerce  as  free  as  possible,  con- 
sistent with  raising  sufficient  revenue  for  the  support  of  the 
government.  If  under  this  latter  system  our  manufacturing 
and  mining  industries  receive  a  benefit  from  the  duty  on 
imported  goods  they  are  entitled  to  it.  It  is  impossible  to 
impose  taxes  under  any  system  that  can  be  devised  without 
hurting  somebody  and  helping  somebody,  and  for  my  part 
•—  and  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  my  political  friends  —  I 


Carlisle's  Views  an  the  Tariff.  115 

would  rather  help  them  than  hurt  them.  But  the  gentleman 
from  Maine  in  his  long  discourse  made  no  reference  what- 
ever to  the  actual  situation  which  now  confronts  us  —  a  sit- 
uation which  makes  it  the  imperative  duty  of  the  represent- 
atives of  the  people  to  reduce  the  revenue  before  this 
Congress  shall  adjourn.  On  the  first  day  of  the  present 
month  there  was  in  the  Treasury  $16,143,000  in  excess  of 
all  the  current  liabilities  of  the  government,  showing  that 
there  has  been,  since  December  1,  an  average  monthly  accu- 
mulation of  more  than  $11,000,000,  Every  dollar  of  this 
enormous  sum  has  been  taken  by  the  law  from  the  commer- 
cial pursuits  of  the  people  at  a  time  when  it  was  sorely 
needed  in  the  prosecution  of  their  business  and  under  cir- 
cumstances which  afford  no  justification  whatever  for  the 
enactment  The  question  this  Congress  must  decide,  is 
whether  this  policy  shall  be  longer  continued  here  in  this 
country  where  the  people  are  supposed  to  govern  in  their 
own  right  and  their  own  interests. 

I  can  imagine  no  financial  condition  more  dangerous  to 
the  integrity  of  legislation  and  the  prosperity  of  the  people 
than  that  which  results  from  an  accumulation  of  a  large 
surplus  in  the  public  treasury.  Even  if  it  was  possible  foi 
such  an  accumulation  as  we  now  have  to  come  into  oui 
public  treasury  without  the  imposition  of  any  tax,  it  would 
still  be  a  great  misfortune,  because  its  inevitable  effect  is  to 
encourage  useless  and  extravagant  appropriations  of  public 
money,  in  violation  of  those  principles  of  public  economy 
which  have  been  found  to  be  absolutely  essential  to  tht 
preservation  of  a  popular  form  of  government  and  the*  con- 
stitutional limitations  on  its  powers.  It  is  safe  to  say  tha , 
so  long  as  this  policy  continues,  largesses  and  bounties  for 
the  promotion  of  purely  private  enterprises  will  be  de 


116  Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

manded  and  new  fields  for  the  exercise  of  legislative  labor, 
new  objects  for  the  appropriation  of  the  public  money,  will 
be  discovered. 

But  it  is  said  we  still  have  outstanding  a  vast  public 
debt,  and  that  no  great  danger  can  befall  the  country  if  the 
present  rates  of  taxation  are  continued  and  the  surplus 
applied  to  the  purchase  of  the  bonds.  I  believe  that  so 
long  as  we  actually  have  a  surplus,  its  application  to  the 
extinguishment  of  the  public  debt  is  the  very  best  use  that 
can  be  made  of  it  But  I  totally  dissent  from  the  proposi- 
tion that  it  is  either  wise  or  just  to  pursue  a  fiscal  policy 
that  taxes  the  people,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
revenue  to  be  used  in  the  purchase,  at  a  premium,  of  the 
unmatured  bonds  of  the  government,  except  so  far  as  may 
be  necessary  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  sinking 
fund  law.  And  I  am  not  altogether  satisfied  that  if  the 
revenue  could  be  properly  reduced  it  would  not  be  wise  to 
suspend  the  operation  of  the  law,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
for  some  short  period  of  time.  During  the  last  month  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  purchased  of  four  per  cent, 
bonds  $13,456,500,  on  which  interest  had  accrued  to  the 
amount  of  $53,172.  For  these  bonds,  with  the  accrued 
interest,  he  was  compelled  to  pay,  and  did  pay,  the  sum  of 
$17,046,136,  or  $3,536,464  over  and  above  the  amount  of 
the  principal  and  accrued  interest,  paying  a  premium  of 
twenty-six  and  one-fourth  per  cent.  During  the  same  time 
and  under  the  same  authority  he  purchased  $12,404,450  of 
four  and  one-half  per  cent,  bonds,  on  which  interest  had 
accrued  to  the  amount  of  $108,000.  For  these  bonds  he 
paid  $13,379,000,  or  $866,000  in  excess  of  the  principal  and 
interest,  or  a  premium  of  seven  per  cent.  This  is  the  situ- 
ation into  which  the  government  has  been  forced  by  the 
failure  of  Congress  in  the  past  to  take  proper  provision  for 


Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff.  117 

the  reduction  of  the  revenue.  Millions  of  dollars  are  taken 
by  law  from  the  hands  of  the  people  who  earn  the  money 
by  their  labor  and  by  their  skill  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
business  to  be  paid  over  to  the  bondholders  in  excess  of  the 
legal  obligation  of  the  bonds.  If  Congress  adjourns  without 
applying  the  remedy  this  unjust  process  must  go  on  indefin- 
itely. In  the  presence  of  such  a  situation  we  cannot  afford  to 
quarrel  over  details.  A  reduction  of  the  revenue,  not  by 
increasing  taxation,  as  some  propose,  but  by  reducing  taxa- 
tion in  such  measure  as  to  afford  the  largest  measure  of 
relief  to  the  people,  and  their  industries,  should  be  the  great 
and  controlling  object  to  which  everything  else  should  be 
subordinated.  I  do  not  mean  that  any  industry,  however 
small  and  apparently  insignificant,  should  not  be  carefully 
considered  in  a  friendly  spirit.  But  I  do  mean  that  the 
general  interest  of  the  many  should  not  be  subordinated  to 
the  special  interests  of  the  few.  This  is  purely  a  practical 
question.  Its  consideration  necessarily  involves  a  discus- 
sion to  some  extent  of  the  principle  on  which  the  power  of 
taxation  is  exercised.  There  is  a  fundamental  and  irrecon- 
cilable difference  of  opinion  between  those  who  believe  that 
the  power  of  taxation  should  be  exercised  only  for  public 
purposes,  and  that  the  burdens  of  taxation  should  be  dis- 
tributed equally  among  all  the  people  according  to  their 
ability  to  bear  them,  and  those  who  believe  it  is  the  right 
and  duty  of  the  government  to  encourage  private  interests 
by  the  imposition  of  higher  rates  than  the  needs  of  the 
government  require.  No  man  in  public  life  would  venture 
to  advocate  excessive  taxation  merely  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  an  excessive  revenua  But  when  the  rates  are  so 
adjusted  or  the  objects  of  the  taxation  so  selected  as  to"  give 
one  section  of  the  country  or  one  class  of  industries  advan- 
tages or  supposed  advantages  over  another  section  or  class 


118  Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

we  find  a  large  number  of  able  and  influential  men  in  pub- 
lic life  who  advocate  the  system,  or  at  least  excuse  it.  This 
is  the  sole  cause  of  the  difficulty  which  we  are  now  encoun- 
tering in  our  efforts  to  relieve  the  people  and  reduce  the  sur- 
plus. It  is  the  sole  cause  of  the  unfortunate  delay  which 
has  occurred  in  the  reduction  of  the  revenue,  and  if  the 
present  measure  shall  fail  and  disaster  in  any  form  shall 
come  upon  the  country  and  the  industrial  interests  of  the 
country  by  reason  of  overtaxation  and  an  accumulation  of 
money  in  the  Treasury,  this  vicious  feature  in  our  system 
will  be  responsible  for  it.  Whenever  we  propose  to  reduce 
the  burdens  of  taxation  on  the  people;^  whenever  we  pro. 
pose  to  secure  to  each  individual  citizen  the  full  fruits  of 
his  own  toil,  subject  only  to  the  requirements  of  the  govern- 
ment ;  whenever  we  propose  to  remove  restrictions  so  that 
there  may  be  freer  production  and  freer  exchange,  the  alarm 
is  sounded  and  all  the  cohorts  of  monopoly  are  assembled 
to  hear  the  heralds  proclaim  the  immediate  and  irretrievable 
ruin  of  the  country.  We  have  heard  it  over  and  over 
again  during  this  debate.  It  has  been  repeated  over  and 
over  again  in  this  hall,  and  gentlemen  from  New  England 
especially,  seem  alarmed  as  to  the  fate  that  would  befall 
their  industries  in  case  the  bill  should  become  a  law.  Gen- 
tlemen from  New  England  predicted  in  1846  that  the  duties 
fixed  by  the  law  of  that  date  would  ruin  their  textile  indus- 
tries. In  1857  all  of  the  New  England  members  voted  for 
a  still  further  reduction  of  twenty  per  cent  from  what  they 
called  the  ruinously  low  tariff  of  1846.  In  the  free-trade 
period,  as  the  Republicans  called  the  decade  from  1850  to 
1860,  the  wool-manufactured  product  increased  forty-two 
per  cent  and  labor  thirty-seven  per  cent  The  increased 
product  in  New  England  was  62  per  cent  In  hosiery  the 
product  increased  21  per  cent,  In  cotton  the  product  in 


Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff.  119 

New  England  increased  21  per  cent  In  boots  and  shoes, 
upon  which  the  duty  had  been  reduced  16  per  cent,  the 
increase  in  New  England  was  83  per  cent;  the  product  in 
1860  in  New  England  was  more  than,  the  entire  product  of 
the  Union  in  1850.  This  was  what  the  Eepublicans  from 
N«w  England  had  seen  under  a  low  tariff.  "Within  eleven 
years  after  the  passage  of  this  bill  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land would  vote  for  a  still  further  reduction,  or  if  they  did 
not  the  people  would  send  somebody  here  who  would. 
This  was  what  they  had  seen.  They  had  seen  their  manu- 
facturing industries  growing  and  prospering  as  never  before. 
They  saw  the  number  of  their  hands  constantly  increasing 
and  the  rates  of  wages  constantly  rising.  They  saw  the 
great  manufacturing  and  agricultural  interests  flourish  as 
never  before.  But  there  was  something  they  did  not  see. 
They  did  not  see  great  monopolies  and  trusts  created  to 
control  the  production  and  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 
They  did  not  see  colossal  fortunes  realized  by  a  few  indi- 
viduals in  a  short  time  while  the  great  masses  of  people 
were  struggling  hard  to  live  comfortably  and  pay  their 
taxes.  They  did  not  see  thousands  of  honest  laboring  men 
out  of  employment,  parading  the  streets  of  a  city  or  tramp- 
ing to  and  fro  on  the  public  highways  demanding  work  or 
bread.  With  these  things  tinder  a  high  tariff  and  class 
legislation  we  have  become  familiar. 

The  gentleman  from  Michigan  (Burrows)  has  stated  that 
the  result  of  the  passage  of  the  tariff  acts  of  1846  and  1857 
was  to  reduce  the  country  to  absolute  bankruptcy  and  so 
affect  the  credit  of  the  government  that  it  was  compelled  to 
borrow  money  in  times  of  peace  at  a  discount  of  from  twelve 
to  thirty  per  cent  The  financial  depression  that  occured  in 
1857  was  an  insignificant  incident  of  history  compared  with 
that  great  commercial  and  industrial  disaster  which  occured 


120  Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

in  1873  and  which  devastated  the  country  for  five  long 
years,  ruining  banking  and  mercantile  houses,  extinguishing 
the  fires  in  the  furnaces,  paralyzing  the  industries  of  the  peo- 
ple and  bringing  down  prices  of  all  our  products  of  every 
kind.  Under  the  low  rates  of  duty  the  country  recovered 
from  the  depression  of  1857  in  a  comparatively  few  months 
and  like  an  awakened  giant  marched  on  in  its  path  of  great- 
ness and  power.  After  the  panic  of  1873  it  struggled  for 
long  weary  years.  From  the  passage  of  the  tariff  act  of  1846 
down  to  the  last  ten  days  of  Buchanan's  administration, 
when  civil  war  was  imminent  in  this  country,  not  a  bond, 
not  a  treasury  note,  not  a  government  obligation  in  any 
form,  sold  for  less  than  par  in  gold,  while  many  of 
them  sold  at  a  very  considerable  premium  in  gold.  During 
the  last  ten  days  of  that  administration,  when  the  clouds  of 
a  great  civil  commotion  were  overshadowing  the  land,  $8,000- 
000  of  bonds  were  sold  December  17,  1860,  at  ninety  and 
one-half  per  cent.,  or  a  discount  of  nine  and  one  half  per 
cent,  instead  of  from  twelve  to  thirty  percent,  as  stated  by 
the  gentleman  from  Michigan.  After  the  Democratic 
administration  had  gone  out  and  the  Eepublican  adminis- 
tration had  come  in,  after  the  low  tariff  of  1846  and  1867 
had  been  repealed  and  the  Morrill  tariff  bill  of  1861  had 
been  passed,  the  Republican  administration  sold  bonds  at 
fifteen  per  cent  discount  Would  it  be  fair  to  say  that  the 
bonds  were  sold  at  a  discount  because  the  rates  of  duty  on 
imported  goods  had  been  increased  ?  I  would  be  ashamed 
of  myself  if  I  made  such  a  charge.  The  truth  is,  the  credit 
of  the  government  was  always  good  in  peace  and  and  in  war 
until  the  civil  commotion  came  in  1860,  and  no  administra- 
tion, Democratic  or  Republican,  ho  system  of  taxation,  free 
trade  or  protection,  could  have  prevented  the  sacrifice  of 
government  obligations  under  such  circumstances, 


Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff.  121 

So  far  the  main  opposition  to  this  bill  has  been  against 
that  part  which  proposes  to  reduce  the  tariff  taxes  and  we 
arc  told  that  its  passage  will  ruin  many  valuable  industries 
now  flourishing ;  that  it  will  throw  many  workmen  out  of 
employment  and  diminish  the  wages  of  those  who  still  man- 
age to  find  work  to  do.  "If  I  believed  that  the  passage  of 
this  bill  would  work  any  material  injury  to  any  honest 
industry  in  this  country,  I  would  hesitate  long,  notwith- 
standing the  emergency  now  on  us,  before  casting  my  vote 
for  it  But  I  am  satisfied  that  instead  of  that,  it  will  greatly 
benefit  them,  and  at  the  same  time  relieve  the  people.  In 
1866,  $127,000,000  were  collected  by  the  government  from 
manufacturers  and  their  products.  Every  vestige  of  that 
enormous  burden  has  been  removed,  and  now  I  submit  that 
the  time  has  come  when  the  great  masses  of  consumers  have 
a  right  to  demand  relief.  There  never  was  a  time  when  this 
internal  tax  remained  on  the  manufacturers  and  their  pro- 
ducts, that  they  would  not  have  been  glad  to  surrender  a 
large  part  of  the  duties  on  imported  goods  to  remove  that 
charge  from  their  industries. 

The  gentleman  from  Maine  talks  about  the  home  market 
We  all  know,  he  says,  that  this  protection  system  is  ben- 
eficial to  the  farmer  because,  first,  it  protects  his  products 
against  competition  from  the  agricultural  products  of  other 
countries;  and,  second,  the  gentleman  says,  because  it 
diversifies  industry,  and  by  increasing  the  number  of  people 
engaged  in  other  than  agricultural  pursuits,  increases  the 
market  for  his  product  It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to 
make  an  argument  to  show  that  as  to  all  those  agricultural 
products  which  the  farmers  of  this  country  are  compelled 
to  send  abroad  to  sell  at  foreign  prices  the  duty  can  not  be 
of  any  possible  benefit  The  American  farmer  understands 
this  so  surely,  and  the  fallacy  of  this  argument  has  so  often. 


122  Carlisle  s  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

been  exposed  that  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  dwell 
upon  it  It  is  barely  possible  that  at  some  particular  time 
and  at  some  particular  point  along  the  Northern  border  a 
duty  upon  barley  and  hay  and  potatoes  and  eggs  and  per- 
haps a  few  other  articles  may  enable  the  producers  of  those 
articles  at  the  particular  time  and  place  to  realize  a  higher 
price  than  he  would  if  the  duty  were  removed  But  even 
this  occasional  and  uncertain  benefit  is  of  but  very  little 
advantage  to  him,  and  when  you  come  to  remember  that  he 
is  all  the  time  subjected  to  the  burden  which  a  high  tariff 
imposes  on  the  articles  he  has  to  buy,  and  undertake  to  set 
off  his  advantages  against  his  disadvantages  you  will  find  a 
large  balance  on  the  wrong  sida  Of  course  the  domestic 
market,  the  home  market,  is  improving  and  has  been 
improving  and  will  continue  to  improve  under  any  system 
of  taxation  along  with  the  increase  of  population,  of  wealth, 
the  improved  facilities  for  production  and  distribution  in 
this  country.  But  how  long  are  our  fanners  to  sit  down 
and  wait  for  the  coming  of  the  home  market  which  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  have  been  promising  them  for 
so  many  long  years?  Take  the  average  production  of  wheat 
in  this  country  during  the  last  few  years  and  assume  that 
there  shall  be  no  increase  whatever  in  the  production  and 
that  the  consumption  per  capita  will  remain  always  pre- 
cisely as  it  is,  and  it  is  capapable  of  demonstration  that 
there  can  be  no  home  market  for  all  the  wheat  of  the 
American  farmer  until  our  population  shall  reach  nearly 
100,000,000.  The  last  statistics  showing  the  consumption 
and  production  and  the  exportation  of  raw  cotton  in  this 
country  show  that  in  1866  we  sent  abroad  about  two- thirds  of 
our  production  and  we  consumed  in  our  manufactories  at 
home  one-third.  The  capital  invested  in  1880  was  $210,- 
000,000 ;  the  number  of  hands  employed,  172,000.  Now,  if 


Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff.  123 

i 

we  have  been  more  than  100  years  in  so  developing  these 
cotton  industries  as  to  enable  them  to  take  and  consume 
only  three-quarters  of  the  American  cotton  crop  at  prices 
fixed  in  Europe,  how  many  centuries  will  we  have  to  wait 
until  these  factories  shall  develop  so  as  to  consume  all  our 
production  at  fair  prices  fixed  in  this  country  ?    What  is  to 
become  of  these  products  ?     Are  the  farmers  of  the  North 
and  the  planters  of  the  South  to  abandon  their  great  wheat 
and  cotton  fields  and  undertake  the  cultivation  of  crops  not 
suited  to  their  soil  in  order  that  these  gentlemen  may  exper- 
iment to  see  whether  a  home  market  can  be  made  by  legis- 
lation?   No,  sir.    These  great  agricultural   interests  must 
go  on  and  the  American  farmer  most  sell  his  surplus 
products  in  any  market  he  can  and  for  any  price  he  can. 
The  great  controlling  element  is  the  world's  supply  and 
the  world's  demand.    The  American  producers  of  wheat, 
for  instance,  do  not  compete  among  themselves  alone  in  the 
great  wheat  markets  of   Europe.     They  meet  there  the 
wheat  from  England,  from  Russia,  Austria,  Hungary  and 
India,  and  all  the  other  grain  growing  regions  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  and  they  sell  their  product  there  in  competition 
with  all  the  product  and  prices  of  labor  on  the  face  of  tte 
earth.      The  lately  emancipated  slaves  of    Russia;     the 
laborer  of  India,  who  lives  all  summer  on  rice  and  milk  and 
requires  only  a  coarse  cotton  shirt  and  sleeps  on  the  floor 
of  a  bamboo  hut,  all  pour  their  products  into  the  market  of 
Europe  to  meet  the  wheat  from  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  and 
no  tariff  we  can  put  on  and  no  system  of  taxation  here  can 
prevent  it   The  same  argument  applies  to  all  our  agricultural 
products,  and  the  American  farmer  understands  it   And  he 
understands  that  as  long  as  he  is  compelled  to  export  and 
sell  in  a  foreign  market  any  part  of  his  product,  the  foreign 
market  is  worth  as  much  to    him  as  the  home  market 


124  Carlisle's  Views  on  the  Tariff. 

because  he  receives  there  just  what  he  would  receive  here, 
after  deducting  the  cost  of  transportation.  Therefore,  in 
place  of  restricting  his  market  he  wants  it  enlarged  so  that 
his  products,  which  cannot  be  consumed  here,  can  find  a 
market  among  the  people  elsewhere.  What  the  American 
farmer  wants  is  a  home  market  in  which  he  can  purchase 
his  supplies  as  cheaply  as  his  competitors.  When  he  can 
not  get  this,  then  he  asks  that  there  may  be  such  a  system 
as  will  enable  him  to  purchase  elsewhere  and  import  them, 
without  being  unreasonably  fined  for  carrying  on  this 
harmless  business.  That  is  what  the  American  farmer 
wants.  We  want  not  only  the  home  markets  but  the 
markets  of  the  world  for  the  variety  of  the  products  of  this 
great  country.  We  want  to  sell  our  manufactured  products 
to  India  and  the  manufacturing  places  of  Europe  and  the 
agricultural  places  of  Mexico,  South  America  and  Asia. 
We  want  to  remove  as  far  as  we  can  the  barriers  which 
annoy  our  industries,  so  that  this  country  may  take  its 
place  with  the  great  commercial  countries  of  the  world  and 
become  rich  and  powerful  as  no  other  country  has  before. 


Election  Ska 


125 


QUALIFICATIONS  OP  VOTERS  IN  THE  STATES. 


STATZS, 

Requirement 
as  to 

Citizenship. 

RZSIDZKCE  IM 

Registration. 

State. 

County 

Voting 
Pre- 
cinct. 

Alabama  
Arkansas.... 
California.... 
Colorado  .... 

C    :,:;.••••     •  :t. 

Delaware... 
Florida  

Citis.  or  declared  intent. 
<  'it-ix.  or  declared  intent. 
Actual  citizens  
Citis.  or  declared  intent. 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  county  taxpayers 
t  U.  8.  citizens  or  de-  1 
1     clared  intention....  | 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Citlz.  or  declared  intent  . 
Actual  citizens  
Citiz.  or  declared  intent. 
Free  white  male  citizens 
Citis.  or  declared  intent. 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Citizens  
Citlz.  or  declared  intent. 
Citiz.  or  declared  latent. 
Actual  citizens  

Citiz.  or  declared  Intent. 

Citlz.  or  declared  intent. 
Citlz.  or  declared  intent. 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  'citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Citiz.  or  declared  intent. 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  tax-paying  citlz.  . 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Citiz.  or  declared  intent. 
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Actual  citizens  
Oitiz.  or  declared  intent. 

1  year.  . 
1  year.  . 
1  year.. 
6  iuos.. 

S  mos.. 
4  mos.. 
90  days 

1  month 
1  month 
30  days 

Legis.  may  regulate 
Prohib.asbartoBuf 
Beg.  req.  by  law. 
Req.by  Constitution 
Required  by  law. 
No  reg.  required. 

Req.  by  Const. 

Leg.  majr  reeulat*. 
Required  by  law. 
No  law  for  reg. 
Required  by  law. 
Req.  in  cities  only. 
No  reg.  required. 
Leg.  may  regulate. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  Const. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  Const. 
t  Req.  by  Const,  in. 
1     cities  only. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  Const. 
Required  by  law. 
Req.  cities  of  10,000. 
Req.  cities  of  10.000 
Required  by  Const 
No  reg.  required. 

1  year., 
lyear.. 

!  year. 

1  year.. 
1  year.  . 
0  mos.. 
6  mos.. 
6  mos 

6  mos.. 
1  month 

6  mot.. 
6  mos.. 

'.  0  '1.-.V- 

.  •  53  s 

60  days 

Cmos.. 

30  days 
30  days 

Georgia  

Illinois  

Indiana  

Iowa  

Kansas 

SO  days 
00  days 
80  days 

6  mos.. 
10  days 
10  days 

]  Kentucky.... 
"Louisiana..  .. 
Maine  

2  years 
1  year.  . 
3  mos.. 
1  year.  . 
lyear.. 

lyear.. 

Crnos.. 

6  mos.. 

Maryland.... 
Massachuaete 
Michigan.... 
Minnesota... 
Mississippi... 

Missouri  

Nebraska  — 
Nevada  

4  mos.. 

8  mos.. 
1  year.. 
6  mos.. 

1  month 
00  days 

8  mos.. 

i  year.. 

1  pi  nr. 

i  pur, 
1  year.. 
0  mos.. 

30  days 

5  mos.. 
4  mos.. 
00  days 

N.  Ham'uhlre 
New  Jersey  .  . 
New  York.... 

N.  r,ir...M..i 
Ohio  

0  mos.. 
30'days 



Oregon  
iv:<:  qrrnsnJ  -. 
Rhode  Uland 
8.  Carolina... 
Tennesset)..  .  . 
Tc  x  as 

1  year.. 

1  yeiir. 
1  y  fir. 
I  year.. 
!  y«-;ir 
1  year.. 
1  year.. 
1  year.. 

1  Vt-ar 

Co'days 
SmoK.. 
8  mos.. 

80  days 

2  mos.. 
«  mos.. 

ft  mos.. 
3  mot.. 

Required  by  Const. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  Coust. 
No  rer.  required. 
Prohibited. 
Required  by  law. 
Required  by  law. 
Prohibited. 
Required  by  law. 

Vermont  
VirRina  
Weal  Virginia 
Wisconsin  ... 

State  elections  are  held  in  the  various  states  as  follows : 

Kentucky First  Monday  In  August. 

Arkansas *  "    .    l  ..-mhcr. 

Georgia. "    Wednesday  in  October. 

Louisiana Tuesday  after  third  Monday  In  April. 

Maine Second  Monday  hi  September. 

Oregon First  "        "June. 

UMtlsltdM '      Wednesday  in  April. 

Yennont '      Tuesday  in  September. 

All  others  are  on  Tuesday  after  first  Monday  in  November. 

Btate  Presidential  elections  are  all  on  Tuesday  after  first  Monday  in  NoTesabsr. 


Election  Statistics. 


POPULAR  AND   ELECTORAL  VOTES   FROM    1852 
TO    1888. 


Yearof  Elec-  II 
•  tion. 

No.  of  States. 

Total  Elec.  V. 

POLITICAL 
PASTY. 

PRESIDENTS. 

VIOK-PRESIDKNTS. 

CANDIDATES. 

VOTE. 

CANDIDATES. 

Elec.  Vote. 

States. 

Popular. 

Electr'l 

1852 
1856 
1860 

1864 
1868 
1872 

1876 
1880 

1884 
t 

31 
31 
33 

*88 

ts. 

3? 

3; 
88 

3? 

-'90 

m 

303 
314 

•:,r; 
sec 

861 

209 

101 

Democratic 
Whig  

Franklin  Pierce-  .... 
Winfleld  Scott  
JohnP.Hale  

James  Buchanan..  .  . 
John  C.  Fremont.... 
MillardFillmore..... 

Abraham  Lincoln.  .  . 
J.  C.  Breckinridge  .  . 
John  Bell  

27 
4 

10 
1! 

1 

17 
11 
8 

•_• 

?•> 

a 
11 

20 

8 

s 

1,601,474 
1,386,578 
156,149 

1,838,169 
1.341,264 
874,534 

1,866,352 
845,7(53 
589,581 
1,375,157 

2,216,067 
1,808,725 

3,015,071 
2,709,613 

254 

•tt 

I"-! 
114 
B 

180 

ra 

89 

is 

21S 
81 

8: 

214 

BO 

•'•• 

Wm.  R.  King  — 
Wm.  A.  Graham  . 
Geo.  W.Julian... 

J.C.Breckinridge. 
Wm.  L.  Dayton  .  . 
A.  J.  DoneLson.... 

Hannibal  Hamlun 
Joseph  Lane  
Edward  Everett.  . 
H,  V.  Johnson  .  .  . 

Andrew  Johnson. 
G.  H.  Pendleton.  . 

Schuyler  Colfax  . 
F.  P.  Blair,  Jr  

B54 
49 

174 

114 
S 

180 
78 

:  J 

ia 

.,-,,. 

81 
81 

814 
BO 
H 

8M 
47 

5 
5 

B 
1 

i 
l 
i 
M 

[88 
184 

Free  Dem. 

Democratic 
Republican  . 
American.  .  . 

Republican. 
Democratic 
Cons.  Union 
Iiid.  Dem  .  .  . 

Republican  . 
Democratic 

Republican. 
Democratic 

Republican  . 
Dem.  &  .Lib. 
Democratic 
Temperance 

S  A  Douglas  

Abraham  Lincoln.  .  . 
Geo.  B.  McClellan.  .  . 
States  not  voting.  . 

Ulysses  8.  Grant  
Horatio  Seymour  — 
States  not  voting. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant  — 
Horace  Greeley  
Charles  O'Connor.  .  . 
James  Black 

31 
6 

3,597,070 

3,834,079 
29,408 
5  608 

Henry  Wilson.... 
B.  Grata  Brown.. 
Geo.  W.  Julian.. 
A.  H.  Colquitt.... 
John  M.  Palmer.  . 
T.  E.  Bramlette.. 
W.  S.  Groesbeck.. 
Willis  B.  Machen. 
N.  P.  Banks  

Thos  A  Hendricks 

48 

1* 
8 

1 

B  Gratz  Brown  

Charles  J.  Jenkins  .  . 

x 

David  Davis  

Republican  . 
i  Democratic 
j  Greenback.  . 
Prohibition. 

t  Not  Counted 

T 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes 
Samuel  J.  Tildeu  
Peter  Cooper  

?! 
17 

4,033,950 

4,284,885 
81,740 

18S 
184 

Wm.  A.  Wheeler. 
T.  A.  Hendricks.  . 

Green  Clay  Smith.. 
Scattering  

9,522 
2,636 

4,449,053 
4,442.035 
807,300 
10,305 
707 
989 

4,911,017 
4,848,834 
151,809 
133,825 
11.362 

G.  T.  Stewart  .  .  .  . 

Republican. 
Democratic 
Greenback  .. 
Prohibition  . 
American.  .  . 

James  A.  Garfleld.  .  . 
Winfleld  S.  Hancock 
James  B.  Weaver  .  .  . 
Neal  Dow  
John  W.  Phelps  

19 
19 

214 

l.V. 

Chest.  A.  Arthur. 
Wm.  H.English... 
B.  J.  Chambers.. 
H.  A.  Thompson  . 
Sam.  C.  Pomeroy 

a  ; 

'..:, 

Scattering  

Democratic 
Republican  . 
Prohibition  . 
Greenback  .. 

Grover  Cleveland  .  .  . 
James  G.  Blaine  — 
John  P.  St.  John  
Benj.  F.  Butler  
Scattering  

S' 
18 

we 

189 

T.  A.  Hendricks.. 
John  A.  Logan  .  .  . 
William  Daniel... 
A.  M.  West  

vi  9 
181 

*  Eleven  States  did  not  vote,  viz.:  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louis- 
iana, Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas  and  Virginia, 
r  Three  States  did  not  vote,  viz.:  Mississippi,  Texas  and  Virginia. 
)  The  number  of  Electoral  votes  for  1888  will  be  401. 


Election  Statistics. 


127 


POPULAB  VOTE  FOB  PRESIDENT.  1884. 

Showing  by  States  the  vote  for  each  of  the  four  leading  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent, the  plurality  received  and  the  aggregate  rote  cast. 


STATES. 

Cleve- 
land. 

Dem. 

Elaine. 
Rep. 

Butler. 
Or. 

St. 

John. 

Pro. 

Cleve- 
land's 
plural- 
ity. 

Blain's 
plural- 
ity. 

Total 

popular 
vote. 

88,973 

60,144 

762 

no 

83829 

153,489 

Arkansas  

78,927 

MM 

1,874 

£J  -  ^ 

1-J.V-K) 

California.  

80,968 

108,416 

9,017 

9,980 

18,198 

U6.79J 

87,803 

•  :•  ' 

1,961 

768 

8,563 

66,499 

67,182 

(.-  m 

1,665 

24>l 

IJtM 

WTJH 

16,976 

13,053 

10 

Ci 

3.923 

80.103 

Florida.  

81  789 

28,031 

72 

8,738 

59  -7-' 

Georgia.  

M,&3 

4~  •  >' 

185 

168 

46,901 

143,543 

Illinois  

m  M 

187,411 

10,849 

12,005 

94,897 

672,649 

Indiana    .  . 

944*999 

188,480 

8*298 

8028 

6.512 

494.793 

•177.3IG 

197,089 

1,472 

19,778 

875,969 

Kansas  

90,182 

154,408 

16,341 

4,954 

64,274 

965,648 

Ken  lucky  

152,901 

118,1:3 

UH 

8,139 

84,889 

975,915 

Louisiana  ,  , 

HUM 

46347 

M 

338 

16,190 

109,234 

Maine.  ,  ,  ,  

'•:  r  • 

71,716 

MM 

9,148 

20,060 

129,509 

96886 

85748 

IN 

•.'  <tr: 

11,118 

186,019 

Massachusetts 

Itt  . 

146724 

2;  • 

'j  :•;: 

94.879 

808,883 

Michigan  .     ~.. 

•i76,aei 

198,669 

753 

i-  M 

3,308 

401,186 

Minnesota  

70.065 

111  686 

3,583 

4  -,M 

41,690 

190.017 

Mississippi  

76.510 

48,509 

33,661 

190,019 

Missouri          .   . 

289  988 

1903.929 

9.158 

88059 

441070 

Nebraska  

•54,391 

76,908 

9.699 

22.M2 

134,304 

Nevada  

5,578 

7,193 

96 

1,615 

]-/. 

New  Hampshire.  ..... 

•43.250 

553 

1  571 

4,068 

H  ' 

187778 

1^3  366 

8,456 

6153 

4412 

961  537 

New  York  

563,048 

668,001 

17,00* 

95001 

1,047 

1,171,312 

North  Carolina  ,  

14-"J  2 

i.-  H| 

454 

r.  -  -; 

968,474 

Ohio     

368^86 

400,069 

6.170 

1!  I  1 

81,796 

784,807 

94.604 

96.860 

786 

493 

2,256 

5  .'.'•.-  I 

Pennsylvania  

392,785 

473,80+ 

17,002 

15737 

81,019 

899,8^8 

Rhode  Island    ,  .  , 

r.1  M 

;•,  ,r,j 

423 

998 

6,639 

•LT71 

South  Carolina  ....  . 

i  •  PM 

21,738 

48,031 

91,573 

133,370 

i::  BH 

957 

1  151 

9,180 

959,469 

823.6TS 

91,701 

3  "  I 

8,508 

131,978 

822,909 

1:.-: 

.'.-••  i 

786 

l  :  1  .' 

99,188 

59,382 

!•:•  M 

189,856 

138 

6,141 

984.991 

W  Virginia.  

67.817^ 

«.  :   V, 

806 

939 

4J221 

132,157 

146,459 

161,157 

4,598 

7,656 

14,606 

319,942 

Total             

4,911,017 

4.848,334 

:vi  •>•: 

161,809 

4-:y  M 

406,706 

10,048,061 

Cleveland's  plurality.. 

<-  -',•  -  1 

•  In  these  three  States,  Iowa,  Michigan,  and  Nebraska,  there  was  a  "  fusion  "  of 
the  Democratic  and  the  National  Greenback  parties. 

t  In  Missouri  and  West  Virginia  there  was  •  "fuilOJi"  Of  the  Bepublkan  and 
the  National  Greenback  parties, 


128 


Election  Statistics. 


ELECTORAL  VOTE  FOB  PRESIDENT, 

At  each  election  from  1860  to  1884. 


STATES. 

1860. 

1861' 

1868.S 

1872. 

1876. 

1880. 

1884. 

j 

Breckenridge—  Dem  . 

| 

Douglas—  Ind.  Dem. 

d 

a 

! 

= 

0 

| 

Grant—  Rep. 

Seymour—  Dem. 

Grant—  Rep. 

Hendricks—  Dem. 

Hayes—  Rep. 

1 

P 

k 
1 

1 

i 

! 
i 

Hancock—  Dem. 

Cleveland—  Dem. 

i 

i 

Alabama.  

9 

4 

8 

5 

10 

10 

f. 

10 

8 

5 

10 
7 

"a 

3 

1 

«. 

t; 

6 

i 

8 

a 

r, 

f, 

« 

8 

6 
8 

6 

"8 
4 

6 

3 

4 

T 

•  • 

8 

8 
4 

'4 

i 

10 

t 

11 

11 

lij 

a 

11 

ia 

18 

ei 

si 

"1 

18 

18 

11 

18 

ii 

IS 

IS 

4 

B 

11 

11 

11 

13 
9 

"e 
'ii 

18 
7 

Kansas  

•. 

I 

B 

B 

B 

1" 

11 

j-j 

£ 

1? 

ia 

e 

ia 

8 

f 

• 

8 

S 

7 

t 

7 

7 

( 

- 

1, 

i 

8 

8 

Massachusetts  

ii 

V 

jj 

18 

ii 

is 

Michigan  
Minnesota  

r 

4 

r 

b 
4 

11 

11 

• 

1! 
B 

Mississippi  

B 

i 

8 
1'. 

it 

Missouri  

£ 

11 

11 

f 

11 

Nebraska    

| 

8 

^ 

e 

B 
8 

4 

Nevada  

. 

| 

" 

., 

•> 

New  Hampshire  

r 

• 

j 

' 

' 

B 

New  Jersey  .... 

4 

j 

~ 

- 
3: 

"i 

'J 
89 

1" 
88 
8 
89 

-: 

i 
gt 

•;,: 

0 

0 
81 

New  York*  

r 

jjj 

North  Carolina  
Ohio  
Oregon  

'a 

10 

'J 
2! 

85 

• 

11 

•.:.' 

10 

n 

M 
8 

G.I 

4 
"4 

'ii 
188 

i 

Pennsylvania  
Rhode  Island  

u. 

8C 

' 

ft 

J 

•1 

',:: 
•i 

South  Carolina  

£ 

j 

7 

7 
IS 

b 

'ii 

6 

IN 

3 

i 

18 
18 

1*-' 

r 

Tennessee  

1" 

V 

Jt 

,, 

Texas  

•1 

( 

w 

Vermont  
Virginia  
West  Virginia  

5 

'ic 

r 

t 

G 

6 

'ii 

5 

Wisconsin  
Total  

I 

: 

8 

10 

10 

10 

ISO 

2 

BO 
3 

IS 

818 

! 

81 

G 

y<4 
1 

SI 

,7 

386 

J 

49 
7 

185 

• 

184 

8 

»14 

I 

m 
j 

Number  of  States  voting.  . 

1  Eleven  Southern  States  did  not  vote  in  1864. 

X  UiMlwippi,  Tezaa  and  Virginia  did  not  vote  in  13S8. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


m.         REC/n  10-URt 

1(10X051984 


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